


I'll be Here Until the World Ends

by SmolKlanceMood



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Adam (Voltron) Dies, Allura (Voltron) Is Second In Command, Allura (Voltron) is a mess, Also hi again I'm sorry I've been dead for like eight months, Angst and Tragedy, Angst with a Happy Ending, Aromantic Asexual Pidge | Katie Holt, Bandor (Voltron) dies, Bilingual Lance (Voltron), Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Blood and Violence, Cadet 041402 - Pidge, Cadet 062499 - Keith, Cadet 070499 - Hunk, Cuban Lance (Voltron), Established Adam/Shiro (Voltron), Gay Keith (Voltron), Gay Shiro (Voltron), Gender-Neutral Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Human Allura (Voltron), Hunk (Voltron) Has Anxiety, Hunk (Voltron) is a Mess, I'm Going to Hell, I'm Sorry, Keith (Voltron) Backstory, Keith (Voltron) Needs a Hug, Keith (Voltron) has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Keith (Voltron) is a Mess, Lance (Voltron) Has Anxiety, Lance (Voltron) is a Mess, M/M, Matt Holt Is a Mess, Nonbinary Pidge | Katie Holt, Officer 021693 - Allura, Officer 092793 - Matt, Orphan Keith (Voltron), Pansexual Hunk (Voltron), Pansexual Matt Holt, Past Adam/Shiro (Voltron), Pidge | Katie Holt is a Mess, Protective Shiro (Voltron), Rebel Matt Holt, Samoan Hunk (Voltron), Shiro (Voltron) is Missing, Shiro (Voltron) is a Mess, Space Mom Allura (Voltron), Telekinetic Allura, Telekinetic Hunk, Telekinetic Keith, Telekinetic Pidge, They're not telekinetic they're telepathic and I'm too lazy to change it, they deserve better
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-15
Updated: 2018-09-15
Packaged: 2019-07-12 11:39:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 30
Words: 28,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15994433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SmolKlanceMood/pseuds/SmolKlanceMood
Summary: I never thought it would get as bad as it did.I thought it was just a normal mission.We all did.But unfortunately, that didn't end up being the case.From Keith's POV





	1. Chapter 1

L: Do you even care anymore?  
K: Of course I care! Why wouldn’t I care?  
L: You sure have a funny way of showing it.  
K: Lance, please don’t do this.  
L: What am I even doing?  
K: This! The arguing, the fighting…  
L: You’re the one that left me!  
K: I-  
L: You took your chance and you left.  
K: Lance, you know why I ha-  
L: You didn’t even think about it.  
K: Will you just let me-  
L: You just left.  
K: ---  
K: I had a job to do, Lance.  
L: You didn’t think it through, you didn’t even explain before you left!  
K: I didn’t have time to explain, and I thought it through--  
L: No you didn’t! You left without a second glance!  
K: I had to! It was either leaving you or-  
L: Or what?  
K: Or you dying.  
\------------  
“You didn’t explain why you left in the first place.” He sounded annoyed, and he had a reason to be, I thought. “I already told you this,” I said patiently, “I didn’t have time to explain why I was leaving.” I realized I was looking down, so I raised my head to look at him.

He was tearing up as he softly spoke. “Will you ever tell me anything?” His voice broke in the middle of his sentence. “Will you ever explain why you leave and don’t come back for days?” I reached my hand out towards him and he turned away, tears now running down his face like silent waterfalls. “I never know where you are anymore, never know if you’re ok, always waking up expecting you to be there, only to find a note saying you’re gone again.” 

I was left speechless, I hadn’t realized just how much I had been putting him through. I truly cared about him, I didn't want to hurt him like this, and now Lance, My Lance, was crying and confused because of me. I didn’t know what to do, after having to leave him over and over for the past months, I couldn’t see a way to make it up to him.

“Lance, i’m so, so sorry for what I’ve put you through,” I took a deep breath before continuing, “It wasn’t right of me, and whatever you want me to do, I’ll do it.” He looked up at me, and there were so many emotions spread over his face I couldn’t tell what he was feeling. 

“I want an explanation.” And as he said that he looked away again, seemingly staring at nothing. “And not one of your cheap excuses either, I want a real explanation for all of this.” I opened my mouth to speak, and he added, “I want to know everything.”


	2. Chapter 2

“Sit down,” I stated cautiously, sitting on the bed and motioning him to sit next to me. After some hesitation, He finally sat down, not on the bed, but on a beanbag chair near it. “You better not come up with one of your stupid excuses again.” He stated defensively, wiping his tear-stained cheeks with his sleeve. 

I put my head in my hands, running my fingers through my hair. “Are you going to say anything? Or are you just going to leave me hanging like you do every time I ask where you’ve been?”

“Lance, I -”

“Well, go on.”

“I don’t know where to even start.” I kept running my hands through my hair, causing a couple strands to get caught in my fingers. 

“Do you remember when we first met?” I asked him, raising my head to look at him, hands still resting on my head, fingers resting in my tousled hair. 

He looked at me quizzically, and nodded slowly. “Yeah… wasn’t it in that coffee shop a couple miles that way?” He pointed near a window to the city outside, which was only illuminated by the lights of the neighboring buildings. 

“Yeah, Altea.” I said, now gazing out the window. “Remember how torn up and disheveled I looked?” I asked, now resting my chin in my hands. 

“Umm, sort of?” He said, now chewing his thumbnail as if in thought. “I remember you had blood running down your face, like you’d had a bloody nose. It was mostly wiped off though.” He nodded, and he looked like a child, sitting criss-cross on his blue bean bag chair.

“Okay, you do remember that.” I turned my gaze towards him now, looking away from the window. “I’m part of this… umm… I guess you could call it a secret agency? I don’t exactly know how to explain it.” My heart slowly started beating faster, I could feel my pulse in my fingertips. 

“A secret agency?” He asked incredulously. “You expect me-”

“If you don’t want to believe me, go ahead, but I’m telling you the truth.” I said it way ruder than I had intended, and I immediately felt bad afterwards. 

“I don’t exactly disbelieve you,” He paused, trying to think of how to word his sentence. “But I don’t really believe you either.” He looked out the window, and then looked at a picture hanging on the wall. It was of him and I at a water park. 

I had been hanging behind in a hoodie, and Lance had taken the picture. He was smiling the widest smile you’d ever see, holding up a peace sign, and I was looking up in surprise at the camera. I had been staring at the ground, I remembered it pretty well, and he had called my name seconds before he took the picture.

I snapped back to reality, seeing him look at me from out of the corner of my eye. I made a decision, and decided to go through with it before my anxiety took over and made it so I couldn’t speak.

“Let me just start over.” I said to him, and then started telling the story.


	3. Chapter 3

When I was 13, I got in trouble with a lot of people for some school drama or something. They thought I said something that I didn’t, and over a couple weeks of this rumor going around, a group of kids decided to gang up on me.

I have a decent memory, so I remember a lot of things somewhat well, but the fight is a blur in my mind. I don’t remember who it was that threw the first punch, but I do remember that it was me against five or six kids, and that it was in an enclosed space, like a park or something.

Anyway, they had all ganged up on me, and I had been hit by at least one person, so I naturally started fighting in self defense. It was one punch after another, an occasional kick to the shins, just a petty, stereotypical school fight. Well, it was, until one of the kids pulled out a match, along with the box.

‘Let’s see how well he does when his clothes are burning.’ I remember thinking how fucking insane these kids were, and then my shirt was on fire. 

At the time, I hadn’t remembered the ‘Stop, Drop, Roll’ technique, so instead of doing that, I had ripped off my shirt and thrown it into a puddle that had formed on the concrete. I had burns on my skin from it, but they weren’t serious so I had ignored them.

I don’t remember the rest of the night very well, the only thing I remember was being thrown on the ground, and the kids finally leaving after what had seemed like a lifetime. 

After what felt like another lifetime, I had finally gotten the strength to get up, and I started walking in a random direction, hoping I’d find something. I didn’t know what I was looking for, I just didn’t want to go back to the foster care center all torn up.

‘You alright, kid?’ 

I had looked for the source of the voice, and when I did I saw that a tall man had been jogging in the opposite direction as me. He had his phone strapped to his arm, and an earbud in his ear. 

‘Yeah, I’m fine.’ I had said, and then he saw that I didn’t have a shirt on. 

‘What happened to your shirt?’ he nodded towards the scorched piece of fabric, which was now thrown over my shoulder. I had picked it up before I started walking.

‘I don’t know’ I responded, not knowing how to honestly answer this stranger.

It was that night when I realized I could read people’s minds, because I remember hearing him say, ‘Are those burns? What happened to this kid?’ but I hadn’t seen his lips move. 

‘I’m fine, really.’ I had started to walk away, and I realized I was in worse shape than I thought I was. I almost immediately felt dizzy, and I would’ve tripped if the man hadn’t caught me.

As he helped me stand back up, he said, ‘Let me help you out. Do you know where the coffee shop is?’

‘Which one?’ I asked. There had to be at least a billion coffee shops in the city.

‘Altea?’ He asked, now getting up himself. I nodded, I had passed by there once or twice on my way to school before, and he smiled kindly at me. 

‘Okay, I’ll walk with you.’ I was glad for the offer, even if it was from a complete stranger. ‘Do you know how to get back home from there?’ I nodded again, and we started walking.


	4. Chapter 4

After that day, I visited the coffee shop pretty often. I learned that the man’s name was Shiro, and that he was one of the owners of the small shop, along with a kind woman named Allura. I had been in the coffee shop one day, when something came up.

Allura hadn’t been having a very good day, and I could tell that she was stressed out about something. She was in the back room, and I heard her say something. I had walked to the back room to check on her, when I saw that she had spilled flour all over herself and the floor.

‘I’ll get the broom, are you okay?’ I asked her, grabbing the broom and starting to sweep the flour off the floor.

‘I’m fine, how did you know to come back here?’ She asked me, and I shrugged, still sweeping.

I heard her think, ‘Can you hear me right now?’ and at first, I thought I was imagining it. Instead of looking up and responding, I thought back, ‘Yeah, can you hear me?’

She laughed a little bit, and then responded out loud to me. ‘Okay, glad we got that covered.’ 

‘Got what covered?’

‘The whole mind-reading thing.’ She said, handing me a card. ‘Meet me outside the shop tomorrow morning.”

I gave her a confused look, but nodded and put the card in my pocket. I started to ask a question, but she responded before I said anything.

‘No, you’re the only one so far that I’ve met who can read minds, besides me.’

I nodded, and we finished cleaning the flour off everything. 

Later that day, I started worrying about what to expect when I met Allura outside Altea tomorrow. It obviously had something to do with the mind-reading thing, and then I remembered she had given me a card. I pulled it out of my pocket and read it.

There was a strange design on the front, and a series of numbers on the back. I wondered about the numbers, but I started to study the front of the card first.

The front of the card was colored in shades of purple, red, and black, and there were strange symbols on it. I ran my fingers along the symbols, and they suddenly turned bright red. 

It startled me when the letters lit up, but as they did I saw that I could read what they said. ‘Patience Yields Focus’

As the letters dimmed again, I realized I couldn’t read it unless it was lit up. I turned to the back and studied the letters, deciding to ask Allura about the letters tomorrow.

062499

‘What the hell?’ I thought. My birthday was typed on the back of the card. 

‘Watch your language.’ I heard someone think, but it wasn’t Allura. I looked around and saw my roommate on their bed, playing on their phone.   
‘Did I say that out loud?’ I asked them, and they paused their game, looking up at me.

They started to answer, and then I heard them think, ‘Oh shit, did he say that out loud?’ I responded by thinking, ‘Can you hear me?’

‘Well yeah, I’m not deaf.’ They said accusingly, and I responded by thinking, ‘Look at me for a minute.’

They did, and I looked back, thinking, ‘I’m going to ask this again, but I don’t want you to say the answer out loud. Can you hear me?’

Their eyes widened, and I heard them think, ‘Yes, I can hear you, can you hear me?’

‘I can hear you.’ I said, looking back at the card. I started to ask if they wanted to come with me to Altea tomorrow, but by the time I got the courage to ask they were already back to being absorbed in their game, fingers clicking at the keys on their keyboard.


	5. Chapter 5

I was waiting outside Altea when I saw Allura walking up to me from my left. 

‘Ready to go?’ She asked, buttoning her jacket the rest of the way.

‘Go where?’ She hadn’t told me we were going anywhere.

‘Just follow me.’ She said, and I did.

We walked for a long time, not saying anything, and the entire time I kept thinking, ‘Where are we going?’

I didn’t recognize the place where we stopped. We had gone down into the subway, and had walked along the tracks for at least two miles, and now we were in a small, underground courtyard. There was a small door on the far side of the courtyard, and Allura walked up to it and knocked.

\----- ..--- .---- -.... ----. …--

It was morse code, I knew that much, but I didn’t know what it said. A minute or two after Allura knocked, someone answered the door.

‘You said you would bring a potential cadet?’ Allura nodded, and motioned for me to come forward. The person stepped aside and opened the door wider, allowing me and Allura to enter, and we did.

The room was a lot bigger than it seemed from the outside, and there were glowing symbols everywhere, just like the ones on my card. I heard the person think, ‘Young one, let me see your card.’ So I pulled it out of my pocket and handed it to the person. They examined it, and then asked, ‘Have you activated the card?’

‘Have I what?’ I asked, remembering the glowing letters and wondering if that was what the person was asking about.

‘What did the letters say to you?’ The person asked, and I responded.

‘Patience Yields Focus.’ I said, and the person looked at the back of my card before replying, ‘Come with me, cadet 062499.’

The person never told me their name, only that they were officer 00110001, and that he would be training me how to be part of their agency. I trained for years after that day, constantly going on small missions, and helping the other cadets with bigger missions.

I got to the point where I would occasionally answer the door for other cadets. Officer 00110001 taught me morse code, so I would know who was knocking, and multiple times I would answer to Allura bringing in people I had seen before.

My roommate was one of the last to arrive. They were cadet 041402, and Officer 00110001 told me to train them, since we were of similar age.

We went on a lot of missions together, and we were the only cadets who referred to each other by our names.

‘Pidge, to your left!’ I thought, yelling in my mind. Our comms, which were attached to a special bracelet we wore on missions, weren’t working, so we had to communicate telepathically. Pidge jumped out of the way with cat-like grace a split second before a huge chunk of broken building fell where they had been crouching. 

‘thanks, Keith.’ They thought, and I nodded even though I knew they couldn’t see me. If it had been over the comms, Officer 00110001 would’ve yelled at us that there isn’t enough time for thanks, but it was a habit me and Pidge had picked up after realizing that only Allura could hear us when we communicated. 

As more rubble came down, I found myself next to Pidge. We were waiting silently for the person, or people, who had caused all this damage, hoping that the comms would come on before the person came to do more damage again.

A loud static noise sounded through the comms, and we could barely make out Allura’s voice.   
‘Get--- 3 miles---Near Altea---’

As soon as we heard the directions, me and Pidge both started running in the direction of the coffee shop. We didn’t know what to expect when we got there, we were only hoping that there were other cadets that had heard Allura through the comms.


	6. Chapter 6

I only stopped when I heard Pidge cry out, and heard the familiar sound of rubble fall to the ground. ‘Keith I’m pinned down.’ They thought, and I turned around to see them under a large pile of debris. ‘I’m coming, just hang on’ I said, looking around. There was nobody around, and I went to help Pidge.

The comms were up and running again, so I quickly stated Pidge’s situation.

‘Cadet 041402 is injured, they’re pinned under some rubble, and I don’t think they’ll be able to finish the mission.’ I turned back to Pidge, and started unburying them.

‘Another cadet should be here soon, don’t worry about me.’ Pidge thought, pulling rubble away from themselves. I didn’t want to leave them behind, but we both knew that I had to continue the mission. ‘Stay as safe as you can.’ I quickly thought back, and as I turned, I thought, ‘I’ll come back for you.’ 

I was about five minutes away from Altea when I heard Allura come over the comms again, ‘Cadet 062499, I need you to go inside Altea and evacuate everyone on the premises.’

‘Got it, on my way.’ I said back, and quickened my pace. If Allura was telling me to evacuate Altea, then whoever had caused this damage had to be close. 

As I was practically sprinting towards Altea, I felt something wet dripping down my face. I quickly wiped my face with my shirt, and kept running. 

I got to Altea in two minutes, a record for me. I quickly walked up to the counter and grabbed Shiro’s arm. There were only two customers in the store, and neither of them were in line anymore, so I took Shiro to the doorway to the back room.

‘We have to evacuate the shop.’ I said, starting to panic. I knew it was bad for me to panic, and I knew that if anyone heard me over the comms that I would be disciplined later, so I hid it as best as I could.

‘Keith, what the hell? What’s going on?’ Shiro grabbed my shoulders, and I shook my head. ‘I don’t know what’s going on, all I know is that we have to get out of here, and quickly.’

Allura then came over the comms, loud enough for the entire shop to hear. ‘Cadet 062499, have you gotten to the shop yet?’ She sounded frantic now. 

‘Holy shit, is that Allura?’ Shiro’s eyes widened, and I felt his pulse speed up through his hands. 

I responded to Allura, ‘Yes, I’m alerting the owner of our current situation.’ I then looked up at Shiro, and nodded.

I quickly walked into the main area of the shop, along with Shiro, and we allerted the two people there as calmly as we could. Shiro went up to one person, and I talked to the other.

The boy looked about the same age as me, if not older, and as I told him he needed to evacuate he almost choked on his coffee.

‘What do you mean I have to leave? I haven’t done anything wro-’

‘I know, it’s not anything you did.’ I leaned on the table, motioning with one hand and keeping myself upright with the other. ‘We have to leave.’

My voice shook as I said this, and I heard him think, ‘He doesn’t even work here, how can he be telling me to leave?’ After I heard that, I grabbed his shoulder and said, ‘If you don’t believe me, look outside.’

I saw him turn his head to look, and as he registered what he was seeing, his eyes widened.

The world was a mess outside that small coffee shop. The surrounding buildings were damaged, and the ones beyond that were broken and crumbling. 

‘Do you see why we have to evacuate now?’ I asked, and he nodded, still in shock. 

‘Okay, good.’ I said, walking him out of Altea, and towards the main base.


	7. Chapter 7

‘Where are we going?’ The boy from the coffee shop wouldn’t stop asking me questions as we ran to the underground base. ‘Just trust me.’ I replied, still running. He slowed down as I continued running, and he shouted after me that he couldn’t run anymore. 

I turned around and stopped, waiting for him to catch up. It was reasonable, I thought, that he couldn’t run anymore. We had ran almost three miles, and he hadn’t had years of training for it. 

He finally reached me, and as he walked up next to me he put his hands on his knees and tried to catch his breath. ‘Why do we have to run?’ He asked me, and I shrugged. We really had no reason to run, we were far enough underground that crumbling buildings weren’t a problem anymore.

‘We can walk if you need to catch your breath.’ I said, looking back at him. He stood up and started walking, still breathing heavily. ‘That would be great.’ He panted. 

When we got to base, I knocked on the door. 

\----- -.... ..--- ….- ----. ----.

Allura answered the door. ‘Where’s Officer 00110001?’ I asked, nodding to the boy. ‘I have one of the customers with me, Shiro and the other customer should be here soon.’

‘He’s inside.’ Allura answered, still sounding just as panicked as she had over the comms. ‘I’ll take the customer, you keep going on with your mission.’ She ordered, and I obeyed.

I went quickly, my mind set on finding Pidge. I informed Allura what I was doing over the comms, and then started searching for the spot where I had to leave Pidge behind.

I found the spot about ten minutes later, but Pidge was nowhere to be seen. I looked around, and then asked through the comms, ‘Have any other cadets or officers seen Cadet 042402?’

I got no response, and I kept searching. I saw powdery footsteps trailing away from the pile of wreckage, And when I looked at where they lead, I saw that they trailed towards the base. I started to follow the trail, and then got a response over the comms, from a voice I didn’t recognize.

‘Cadet 041402 has been brought to the base by an unknown person. we are trying to figure out who the person was, but in the meantime we need the nearest Cadet to follow them.’

I responded over the comms, ‘I’m close, I’ll keep an eye out,’ and then asked, ‘Are there any other Cadets who are able to assist in the lookout?’ 

Again, I got no response. ‘There’s no point in comms if nobody communicates with them.’ I thought bitterly. ‘Just because nobody else can hear your thoughts, doesn’t mean I can’t.’ Allura responded.

‘I know, Allura.’ I answered back. ‘Can you keep me updated?’

‘I can try,’ Allura paused, and then continued her sentence. ‘We are extremely occupied right now, this is one of the biggest missions we’ve ever dealt with.’

I nodded, and looked around. As I directed my gaze to the street below, I saw a person slinking from shadow to shadow. I leapt down from the fire escape I was sitting on, and approached the stranger.

I came up from behind, being as quiet as I’d ever been in my life, not even daring to breathe. The person suddenly turned around, and aimed something at me. 

I couldn’t see what it was, but I had assumed it was a potential weapon. I jumped out of the way, and I saw a blast of blue light shoot through the alleyway where I had been standing. The blast hit a building, causing it to crumble, and it slowly sank in that I would’ve been killed if I hadn’t jumped out of the way. 

I got away quickly, not waiting for the person to take another shot, and sent a message quickly to Allura.

‘Allura, I think I found the man who’s caused all this damage.’ I then reported the same thing over the comms, along with my current location, so that any other cadets could either overtake or avoid the person.

The mission had lasted all day. The person had gotten away, and had killed almost all of the cadets that had been on the mission. The only cadets that survived were me, Pidge, and a cadet I’d never met before, Cadet 070499. He was another cadet that Allura had brought in shortly after me. 

Officer 00110001 didn’t hold a ceremony for the people who had died, didn’t congratulate us for not dying, but nobody had expected it. After that mission, however, he told us to disappear.

‘Whoever caused all of this is still out there, and they know where the base is.’ He said, starting his order. ‘So you all need to fade out, disappear from this entire thing.’ 

We all had looked at each other, not knowing how to answer. We weren’t the only cadets still alive, Allura hadn’t let Officer 00110001 send out all the cadets on the most recent mission, but we were now the oldest. 

‘Keep your comms on.’ The Officer continued. ‘I will alert you of any changes or missions that go on.’ His expression, which was usually void of emotion, was now turning grim. ‘If you do not hear mine or Allura’s voice through the comms, do not respond.’ 

We nodded, and we were sent on our way. It was now me, Pidge, and the third cadet walking out of the base, along the abandoned subway tracks, and into the broken city, not knowing what would happen next.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I literally have no idea what I'm doing, If there's any mistakes please tell me!


	8. Chapter 8

“You over explained a lot of that.” Lance said sullenly, now resting his chin in his hand, gazing out the window. 

“I know,” I responded, anxiety starting to overtake me. “I’m just trying to explain everything.”

He glanced away from the window, and turned his head to look at me. “If you can really read minds, then tell me what I’m thinking right now.”

He seemed on the verge of tears again, and I focussed on just trying to prove myself to him. I started telling him what I was reading from his mind.

“You’re thinking about your 8th birthday party.” I said slowly. “You were excited, because your mom let you have a piñata. It was just a blue circle, but it made you so happy.” I smiled, still reading Lance’s thoughts. 

“When you broke it open, you were disappointed at first because it was just paper, but then you unwrapped the paper and they were little birthday notes from all of your family.” I looked over, and Lance was crying again. He didn’t appear sad this time, however, he seemed surprised. 

I got up off of the bed, and sat next to him on the bean bag chair. “You remember how it was the best birthday of your life.” I said, and he nodded and leaned into me. I held him, and after a couple minutes he sat back up, wiping his eyes with his hand. 

“I want to believe you, I really do.” He choked on his words, almost starting to cry again. “I don’t kn-”

“I know it’s a lot to take in.” I told him, trying to calm him down. “Listen, you don’t have to believe me right now. It’s a lot of information, and I should’ve told you earlier-”

I stopped, and listened. I thought-

“Keith, what is that?” Lance asked, sitting up and looking around the room. “I don’t know.” I whispered, getting up and examining our apartment for the source of the noise. 

It was a small, beeping noise, so I checked the alarm clock, my phone, Lance checked his phone, and then I realized it was my comms. I held my wrist to my ear, and listened carefully.

“What are you do-”

“shh!” I put a finger to my lips, and focussed on the beeping. 

… --- …  
… --- …

“Is that what I think it is?” Lance asked, tapping out the pattern with his fingers.

“It’s SOS,” I said, and I listened one more time. The beeping stayed consistent, and I wondered if anyone else was hearing it.

I immediately sent a message to Pidge. “Are you hearing this?” I asked, and Pidge responded in less than two seconds.

“The SOS? I was just about to ask you the same thing.” They sounded slightly panicked, and I thought, “Don’t do anything. Allura, what’s going on?”

Allura didn’t respond for what felt like ten minutes, I didn’t time it, but the entire time Lance was pacing around the room, continually asking, “Keith, what’s going on?” and “Keith are you leaving again?”

“I don’t know, Lance.” I tried to calm him down by telling him I wasn’t going anywhere until I had heard back from Allura, but that didn’t help. He was still worried for me.

“Keith, Pidge, are you there?” Allura’s voice had a panicked tone, it seemed as if everyone was freaking out over the distress signal. 

“I’m here.” I stayed as calm as possible, not wanting to freak anyone out more than they already were.

“I’m here too.” Pidge replied. They sounded as if they had been hyperventilating.

“What’s going on, guys?” A voice I didn’t recognize cut through. 

“Hunk, do you by any chance know who sent the distress signal?” Pidge apparently knew the person who had cut in.

“No, does Allura?” The new voice asked, and Allura cut back in, “No, I’m alerting Officer 00110001 now.”

“Who are you?” I asked, extremely confused by the new voice.

Pidge cut in before the new person could reply, “Cadet 070499, his name is Hunk.”

“Got it, thanks Pidge.” I said. I remembered the guy now, he was the only other cadet that went on that mission that survived besides me and Pidge.

“Keith?” Lance was waving his hand in front of my face. “You alright in there?”

I blinked, and looked up at him. “I’m fine, just trying to figure out what’s going on.” He looked at me weird, and then stopped once he realized that I had been talking with Pidge and Allura. He didn’t know about Hunk yet, so I filled him in.

“I’ve been talking with Pidge, Allura, and a new guy named Hunk.” I said, standing up. I hadn’t realized I sat down, Lance must’ve sat me down. 

“Hunk?” He asked, seemingly going over old memories.

I looked back at him. “Yeah, why?”

“I know that guy!” Lance practically shouted. “Sorry.” He added, once he saw me jump in response to the sudden increase in volume. “We were best friends in grade school.”

I nodded, and turned my attention back to the conversation. “Have we found any information on the distress signal?” I asked.

“Still negative.” Hunk replied, and then he laughed. “Hey Cadet-Who-I-Don’t-Know-The-Name-Of, are you by any chance in the same vicinity as Lance McClain?”

I was taken aback. How did he hear Lance yelling? “My name is Keith, and what do you mean?” 

“You were silent for a long time, and then you shouted, ‘Jesus Lance!’, and I’m wondering if it’s the same Lance I was friends with when I was a kid.”

“Yep, that’s the same Lance.” I said, now laughing myself. “He was just talking about how you guys were friends.” I cut out of the conversation for a moment. “Hunk says Hi.” I said to Lance, and he smiled. 

“Tell him I said Hi, too” Lance replied, and I entered the conversation again.

I didn’t get a chance to say hi for Lance. The chat was now filled with frantic thoughts of ‘What are we going to do?’ and ‘Allura what’s going on?’  
I backed out of the chat almost immediately, there were too many voices for me to handle.

Lance caught me from almost falling off the bed. He asked me something, but I couldn’t hear what it was. My head was spinning so quickly, I felt like I was either going to throw up or pass out.

Neither of the two happened, and as soon as the spinning had started, it stopped. I could feel Lance sitting next to me on the floor, and it was comforting knowing he was there.

The conversation cleared, and I entered it again, being cautious this time. Pidge was the first to speak out of any of us.

041402: “What the Hell was that?  
062499: “I don’t know, but whatever it was almost just made me pass out.”  
070499: “Same here, I’m really glad it didn’t though.”  
021593: “Is everyone alright?”  
062499: “I’m alright.”  
070499: “Same here.”  
021693: “Pidge, are you there?”  
041402: “I’m here, I’m fine other than a bad headache.”  
021693: “I’m glad to hear it. Officer 00110001 and I are currently tracing the SOS signal, we may need you three cadets to scout for us.”  
062499: “Got it. I’m here if you need a scout.”  
041402: “I’m getting prepared to scout if I need to.”  
070499: “You guys, before you get ready to do anything, look outside.”

As soon as he had said it, the chat stopped suddenly. I looked at Lance, who was standing by the window, a look of awed terror spread over his face. I stood next to him, and looked out into the city.

Our entire world, or at least it seemed so, was ablaze.


	9. Chapter 9

There were more cadets ready for action than I had ever seen before, all of them younger than me. There were Officers getting ready to attend this mission as well, including Pidge’s older brother.

He was Officer 092793, and his name was Matt. I’d never heard Pidge mention him before, but then again Pidge didn’t really talk about personal things much.

“This is the biggest mission we’ve ever had to face,” Officer 00110001 said over the comms, and I listened very carefully. He was giving orders, starting with the youngest cadets and going up the age range. When he finally got to our age group, he explained in more detail.

“You three, Cadets 042402, 070499, and 062499, will be stationed in the center of the city. I know it isn’t ideal, but it will help us fight whatever caused this.” He went on to explain what we were going to be doing. 

“Since there are only three of you, I need you to be scouts. The second-youngest age class of Cadets will be doing the physical fighting, since there are the most of them.” 

He ordered Allura and Matt to come with us, and we all set off. As I left the apartment Lance and I shared, I saw that Lance was still staring out the window. I stopped to walk back up to him. “I’ll be back, I promise.” I said, remembering something I had meant to give him a long time ago.

Officer 00110001 had given us two bracelet comms, just in case one broke. I had saved mine, deciding to only use it if it was completely necessary.

I handed the comm to Lance. He held it in his hand, looking at it with a sad expression. “Why are you giving me this?” He asked as I switched it on.

“So you’ll know what’s going on.” I said, fastening it around his wrist. 

He wrapped his arms around me, and said quietly, “Please come back.”

“I will.” I said, and I started to walk out the door.

“And if you don’t?” He fiddled with the new bracelet on his wrist, trying to find the most comfortable place for it.

“I will.” I reassured him for the third time. As I opened the door, I saw him turn to look out the window again, the light of the flames sending orange streaks across his bright blue eyes. I looked ahead of me, and hesitantly stepped out into the blazing city.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for such a short chapter! The next one will be worth it (hopefully).


	10. Chapter 10

I ran to the center of the city. “Pidge, Hunk, I’m on my way!” I shouted through the comms, that way Lance wouldn’t worry about me. I could tell there were still people in some of the buildings and in the rubble, the thoughts that had swarmed my head were still sounding from all around me, but they were quieter than the voices that had been echoing in my head earlier. 

I ran, thinking of the worst. I had a tendency to do that, to think of the worst things possible and dread them.   
What if Pidge and Hunk are dead and this was all a ploy to draw cadets and officers in? What if I’m the only one who makes it to the scouting site only to be ripped away from everything I know? What if-

My What If’s were interrupted with a sudden shout that echoed through my mind. I couldn’t tell exactly who it was that shouted, all I could understand was that it was either a cadet or an officer, and that I needed to get to the current scouting position quickly.

There had been no noise through the comms the entire time I had been running. I had shouted that I was heading towards the scouting site before I started running in the first place, but I had gotten no response. I slowed, realizing that everything had been completely silent, other than the crackling of flames all around me and the voices in my head. 

I thought of Lance, wondering if I would return to find that he was just another lost voice in my head, or if I would return at all, and now that I had realized that the comms were down I was more worried. 

I was sprinting now, having not realized when I had quickened my pace, and I heard the comms pick up, and then shut off again. 

“What the Hell?” I heard Pidge think, followed by a “That’s weird.” from Hunk.

“I’m almost there you guys, I’m nearing the coffee shop now.” I thought back, wondering how long it would be until the comms would be up and running again. 

I heard another shout, out loud this time, and turned the corner to the scouting position. I heard more shouts, some panicked and some painful, as I practically threw myself up the fire escape to the roof. I got to the roof to see Pidge and Hunk, supporting an almost unconscious Matt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry about another short chapter, I haven't been able to find much time to write... I'll try to get as many chapters in as possible before I'm really busy again!


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you don't like blood or anything like that, skip the beginning and go down to where Hunk says "You're not going after him, Keith."

Pidge and Hunk were in bad condition. Pidge’s jacket was red with blood in more than a few places, and their hair was matted with a mixture of soot and blood. Hunk wasn’t in very good condition either, he had gashes all along his arms and face, but he looked in better shape than Pidge.

Matt looked the worst out of all of them.

He had gone unconscious, Hunk was now laying him down on the roof.

I could see in the light created by the inferno around us that Matt’s face was covered in blood. Pidge may have had a spot or two on their sweater that had soaked through, but Matt’s entire outfit was ruined by the red fluid that continued to soak through his clothing. 

Where he wasn’t bleeding, Matt had horrible burns that caused my brain to flash back to the day of the fight I'd gotten into. As Hunk started to take Matt’s shirt and jacket off, I saw that his torso was a gruesome mess of blisters and bleeding impact wounds. Hunk hadn’t taken Matt’s jeans off, knowing that it would only hurt Matt if he tried. 

“How-”  
Hunk interrupted my question before I could finish it. “He got shot from behind, almost fell off the roof.”  
“By who?”

I looked at Matt's back again and realized that he hadn't been shot by ordinary bullets. He was covered in burn marks that looked like someone had held something about the size of a quarter against his skin, and I remembered the man with the weapon that tried to kill me.

“We don’t know.”  
“Where did they go?”  
“Who, the shooter?" Hunk looked at me strange, and then realized why I was asking.

“You’re not going after him, Keith.”  
“Where did he go?” I kept persisting, I would find this person if it meant keeping everyone safe.  
“You’re not going after him.” Hunk stated again, making his point clear. “The other cadets should be here soon, and we’re only here to scout the area.”

I checked my watch. It had been almost two hours since we had been told to start the mission. 

“If the other cadets were coming, they would be here by now.” I argued, and I saw Hunk’s face drop after realizing what I was implying.

“You’re not going.” Pidge interjected, now facing me with a broken sort of expression. “We need to watch each other’s backs,and make sure-” Their voice broke, and tears started to run down their cheeks. They wiped the tears away with a part of their sleeve that wasn’t stiff with blood, and finished their sentence.

“We can’t risk another injury like Matt's.” Pidge crouched down under the safety of the fire escape. We weren’t on the very highest roof, we were only high enough to be able to scout the area for any people, good or not. The fire escape was strange as well, in a way that it connected neighboring buildings together. It didn’t seem practical, but I also knew nothing about building design, so I couldn’t say anything about it.

We all jumped at the sound of static blaring through the comms, and it was loud enough that Hunk and I both cried out. Pidge’s eyes got wider, but I felt that Matt being injured had broken them to a point of numbness. 

“All cadets and officers!” Shiro’s voice cut through the static, and although Hunk was ecstatic to hear someone’s voice through the comms, I was sceptical. Shiro didn’t have the right credentials to be able to talk through the comms, only Allura, Officer 00110001, and sometimes Matt had the right stats to be allowed to communicate from the base.

“All cadets and officers, please report to the main base immediately! This mission is too out of control for us to handle!”

Hunk immediately started to try and lift Matt, but I ran over and stopped him before he could.

“Keith, what the Hell?” He asked, and I shushed him, pointing at the comms. 

“That’s not Shiro.” I told him, shutting off my bracelet. I reached to shut his off as well, and then explained my thought process.

“Who would it be if it’s not Shiro?” Hunk murmured, half talking to himself and half talking to me.

“I don’t know, but whoever it is is trying to lure everyone to the base.”  
I shook my head, still trying to figure out how someone could’ve gotten into the base. 

“How do you know?” Hunk looked like he was on the brink of an anxiety attack. 

“I don’t know.” I replied shakily, running my fingers through my hair again. “I can just… I don’t know. I know that isn’t Shiro.”

Even if Officer 00110001 had somehow let Shiro use the main comms, he would never allow Shiro to call a surrender. It had never been a possibility for us to surrender. It was a well-known rule that we would make our missions successful or die trying.

“Do you think it’s the guy who caused all of this?” Hunk was rubbing his hands together nervously, seemingly trying to keep himself together for the mission.

I didn’t know how to answer, so I shrugged. We didn’t say anything for a few seconds, until Hunk turned and frantically looked around.

“Where’s Pidge?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll be posting chapters 12 and 13 soon, I just have to type it out and make some corrections and then they'll be ready to go. Sorry for keeping people waiting so long!


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The story gets pretty violent and angsty from here on out, so if you're not interested in that just-
> 
> you've been warned?
> 
> (I'm sorry)

I ran, not knowing where I was going or where I was going to end up. I was alone, the comms had gone out again, Hunk had to stay with Matt, and nobody else, including Allura, had answered my thoughts and messages. I knew I wasn’t the only one who was alone, Lance was alone in the apartment, there were people in the buildings I ran past, and I thought of all the people who hadn’t gotten to continue with their lives because of the mass destruction. 

My mind started to spin as I went back to thinking about Lance, my thoughts swirling fast enough to make me dizzy as I ran. I began to notice my breathing becoming ragged and heavy as more what if’s flooded my brain, and as I was pulled towards somewhere by an unknown force.

I turned corners, ran through alleys and streets, not comprehending what was happening around me or where I was. I had been sprinting for what felt like years when I heard the voice.

“I’m going to die here, I shouldn't have left-”

“Pidge!” I shouted, not sure if it was out loud or just in my head. It took me a couple of seconds of relief for their words to sink into my conscious.

“Shit- I’m coming!” I wasn’t sure if they were able to hear me, but I sent the message anyway.

I took a sharp right through what once was, from the looks of it, a very busy intersection, still following the urge that was pulling me along. I didn’t know what was luring me until I turned another left.

Pidge was leaning against a pile of rubble in the fetal position, their already small body dwarfed by the metal that had collapsed on and around them.

I ran up, almost sliding in a kneeling position next to them, frantically trying to find a way to get the both of us through this situation.

“Pidge, can you hear me?”

They groaned at the sound of my voice and tried to roll slightly towards me, hissing in a breath and tensing up from the pain. I grabbed their hand, carefully assessing them for injuries.

On Pidge’s arms, hands, face, and seemingly everywhere else where their skin was exposed on their body, I saw that they had the same burns Matt had suffered earlier. Their sweater, I noticed, was covered in more stains, and then I saw it.

A sheet of metal roofing had fallen on top of Pidge, in such a way that it had cut through their sweater and had situated itself in their side, causing thri sweater to turn from a bright, friendly green to a deep shade of red. 

“God, Pidge.” I gasped, pulling off my jacket so I could use my arms without getting in the way of their injuries. I felt a pain in my lower back, I had been kneeling down too long, but I ignored it and kept my focus on Pidge. 

I felt helpless, there was next to nothing I could do to improve Pidge’s current situation. Leaving them where they were could only leave them to die from exposure, and trying to move the metal would kill them as well, either from the pain or blood loss. 

They groaned again, their eyelids fluttering as their pale face slowly lost color.

“Keith?”

Pidge sounded tired, their voice sounding as if they had cotton in their mouth. 

“I don’t think-”

I hushed them, sitting down near their head and gently brushing a large strand of their orange-brown hair away from their face. They were only a couple years younger than me, but I felt as if they were my child. After spending so long with them in the dorm and on missions, I had sort of turned into their surrogate parent. I realized then how young I was. Hell, I was still a child, and it saddened me even more to think that this person laying next to me in the rubble, barely 16, wasn’t going to make it to sunrise.

I continued to run my hand through their hair and closed my eyes, trying not to cry. I truly could do nothing for Pidge, and it broke me beyond belief to know that they were beyond help.

Pidge started coughing on dust that was settling around us from the burning buildings around us, and I opened my eyes when I felt their breath start to shudder next to me.

I watched as they stopped coughing, and a small trail of red liquid trailed from the corner of their mouth. As their blood accumulated on the cement, they opened their eyes to look at me, a still-curious shine to their dulling eyes.

“What do you think is going to happen?” They asked me, and I felt my eyes and face grow hot.

“I don’t know” I choked, still trying to hold back tears. I had to stay calm for Pidge, even though they knew they were going to die, I needed to stay calm. 

“Do you think we’ll still be able to talk?” They asked, their breaths growing shallow.

“I hope so.” I smiled a sad smile, and they smiled back before going into another coughing fit.

I held their head off the ground as more blood spattered the concrete, and they drew in a shaky breath as tears started to drag slowly across Pidge’s cheeks.

“Keith, if Matt wakes up-” 

More blood fell across their face, and they became even more drained of color as their freckles became more noticable.

“Tell him I won’t forget him.” They gasped, barely able to get the words out. Their eyes fell shut, and their last breath shuddered out of their chest as my heart broke. I gently laid their head on the ground again, and I finally let the tears that were building up in my eyes fall, feeling them drip hotly off my face and onto the hard ground beneath me.


	13. Chapter 13

I started to get myself together when I was suddenly stopped my a flood of images entering my mind. I watched them, not being able to snap out of my daze, and soon realized that I was witnessing Pidge’s last dream sequence. I saw their family, people they called “friends”, I saw how they grew up, what their hometown looked like, their family pet, and I saw a lot about why they loved and idolized Matt so much.

It was one of the last memories that surprised me.

It was a couple days after Allura had shown them to the base, and they had come home after a long day, only to find me in the dorm already.

I had startled them, we hadn’t talked much before, and the fact that we were both part of a hero group, and that we both had the same powers, scared them.

I had been making tea, just how Shiro taught me a couple days after he showed me Altea. Pidge had sat down at the counter across from me.

“How do you do that?” Pidge asked, watching me carefully.

I had laughed. “It’s pretty simple, you just put the spices and stuff into the strainer ball thing, and then you boil it in water to steep it.” Shiro had taught me multiple times what the ‘strainer ball thing’ was actually called, but I could never remember.

They had nodded and stared in slight amazement as I poured the tea into a cup.

“That smells amazing.” They said, looking from the cup to my hands, and I smiled. I had mixed cloves and cinnamon, along with some other things, like mint and an apple slice or two.

I reached for another cup after hearing their apparent approval of the hot drink. “Do you want some?”

They nodded and helped me grab the mug. After I had given them their tea, which was more like cider in reality, and added a little bit of honey to both cups, we sat in silence for awhile just sipping our tea.

They spoke suddenly, startling me. “Does this count as being friends?”

I paused mid-drink for a moment, and answered after I felt the hot liquid burn my tongue after I stopped drinking.

“Sure,” I said, looking over at them still blowing on their tea. “I’d consider this as being friends. Why?”

“I’ve never had a friend before.” They said simply, and they took a large sip from the liquid in their mug. 

That had made me think for a moment about my childhood. “Neither have I.” I had answered, and as I looked from them, to my tea, and then back again, they had finished their mug.

“Thanks for making me tea.” They said, smiling and getting up to bring their cup to the sink.

I nodded again, and set my half-empty cup down on the counter.

They washed and dried their mug, putting it back in the cupboard where all the cups went.

“I’m glad I made a friend.” They hummed softly, a soft expression on their face.

“Me too.” I replied, and as I grabbed my mug again, the memory faded away into white, and I started coming back to reality as Pidge’s mind used up the last of its power.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry


	14. Chapter 14

I was in shock. I only fully became conscious when I heard the blaring static once again come from the comms. I was getting sick of them, constantly turning on and off. but I also knew the disaster around me was part of the reason they weren’t working. 

I tried to concentrate, my eyes going in and out of focus. As I became more aware, I realized that I was laying on the ground. I sat up, wiping the tears off my face, and then tried to understand what was happening over the comms.

In between static, I heard Shiro’s voice saying something. I couldn’t understand what exactly he was saying, having just become awake after seemingly passing out. 

Everything that had happened before came flooding back, and I slowly stood myself up, not daring to look back at the figure laying at my feet. I knew that if I even glanced at the cadet I would lose myself, so I started trying to find my way back to where I started.

“Keith, where are you?” Hunk sent a message to me. I took a deep breath and slowed my pace before answering, “I don’t exactly know. where are you?”

“I’m still at Altea.” He replied shortly. 

“I’ll be there as quickly as possible.” I answered, and glanced at my surroundings. It was hard to figure out where I was, since the smoke and flames made it hard to see. I ran a few blocks, trying to find my bearings, and then I realized what part of the city I was in.

I was in the neighborhood that Shiro and his fiancee, Adam, used to live in. I slowed my pace down even more, now walking a path I hadn’t gone down since I was 15. 

I made my way to the house, staring at my scuffed sneakers as I walked up the front steps and sat on the porch. It felt homey, even though it hadn’t really been a home for some time, it still brought me some peace after what had happened earlier.

Sitting on the steps reminded me of Adam, and of his motorbike, which was still parked in the small side garage next to the house.

I walked up to it and examined it, making sure everything was still where it should be. Adam had taught me a lot about machinery while he was still alive, and part of that teaching had lead me to learn how to hotwire cars.

The motorbike started quicker than I thought, and the roaring of its old engine startled me at first. I got on, carefully drove it out of its parking space, and maneuvered onto the street.

“Keith, where the Hell are you? Are you still there?” Hunk sounded anxious, even in his thoughts.

“I’m on the other side of the city, I’ll see you in about five minutes.” 

“Five minutes? There’s no way you can run that fast.”

“I’m not running. I’ll see you in five minutes.” I didn’t explain more, feeling like I didn’t have enough time to. I cautiously rode down the street, getting used to the bike after it not being in use for so long, and as soon as I became accustomed to the controls I sped towards Altea, hoping Hunk and Matt were okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I couldn't figure out how to incorporate this into the story, but Adam died in a car accident while he was heading home from work, and even though his bike was pretty much destroyed in the accident, Shiro and Keith fixed it to its previous condition in Adam's memory. 
> 
> Also, again, I am so sorry about Pidge  
> (I don't know if it actually is again for you guys, I've had to apologize to my friend at least three times)  
>  
> 
> I owe you guys a lot of fluff after this.


	15. Chapter 15

“Where did you get a motorcycle?!” Hunk didn’t look like he was believing what he was seeing. I quickly explained how I had found it at Adam’s house as I flipped down the kickstand and jogged towards the building.

“Holy shit.” Hunk’s eyes were wide enough that I was worried they would pop out of his skull. I climbed the fire escape to the roof to join Hunk and Matt. Matt was still unconscious, and he was now sporting a new tourniquet around his right arm, near the base of his shoulder.

I didn’t ask what had happened to Matt, instead I mentally prepared myself for the question I knew was going to be asked sooner or later. 

Hunk looked around, and then;

“Where’s Pidge?”

I looked at the stucco that coated the roof and sat myself down, using my hands to keep myself from falling. If it was an anime, the area around my eyes and forehead would’ve gone dark in response to the question. Hunk looked worriedly at me, sitting on the edge of the roof with his legs hanging off. 

I couldn’t bring myself to answer his question, so I tried something I’d never done before. I focused all my concentration on projecting some of my memories from what happened to Hunk, and judging by how tense he’d suddenly gotten I assumed it worked. He got up after a while and made his way to me, kneeling down next to my and putting his arm around me.

I leaned into him for support, which isn’t something I would usually do, but in that moment I needed it. After he took his arm away, I sat up and looked over at Matt. 

“Where are we going to take him?” Hunk asked as he walked over to Matt, gently picking him up and draping him over his shoulder as a firefighter would.

“To my apartment.” I responded, thinking carefully as I made my way back down the fire escape. “Lance went to nursing school, he’ll know how to help him.” 

I had left the engine on the bike running, in case Hunk and I had to leave quickly. I assumed my place as the driver, and Hunk situated himself and Matt so the three of us wouldn’t fall off. I drove slower than I would’ve if it was just me, and carefully maneuvered my way through the piles of broken building. 

My mind was spinning for what felt like the billionth time that day with the usual ‘what if’s’ as I drove through the ruined city. Every pile of rubble reminded me painfully of Pidge, and every crumbling building, every cracked window reminded me of how easy it was to lose the people I cared about, ad of why I had spent almost my entire life living in isolation.

When Hunk, Matt and I finally arrived at the apartment complex, I was relieved to find it still in one piece, and relatively unscorched by the flames. Hunk carried Matt again, the same way he had carried him down the escape, and we ran quickly up the four flights of stairs to the room where I hoped Lance still was.

I practically threw open the door, which startled Lance. I could tell from the marks on the bedsheets that he had been sitting and staring out the window, but now he was facing the three of us in a seemingly violent pose. I saw him relax slightly when he saw me, and I saw his eyes light up when he saw Hunk. 

“What’s going on?” Lance’s panicked voice was pitched much higher than usual, and he spoke at a speed that caused him to slip up his words. “The comms haven’t been working and I haven’t heard anything and everything just keeps crumbling and burning and-”

“Lance, calm down, we’re okay.” I put a hand on his shoulder and rubbed his arm, trying to make his panic subside. Lance had really bad anxiety, which made things like this really hard for him to handle without breaking down. I felt lucky that I had gotten to the apartment when I did, Lance hadn’t quite had a panic attack yet, and now I could help him, which felt lucky to me.

Hunk adjusted Matt’s position, now holding him in his arms like someone would a sleeping child. Lance, now mostly calmed down, made his way to Hunk, helping support Matt’s back to lay him down on the bed. 

As Lance started to go over Matt, he turned to me, his eyes flooded with more emotions to count. 

“What happened?” 

I shook my head, “I don’t know all of it, I know he got shot with something, and that he almost fell two stories off a roof,” I glanced over at Hunk, who was standing awkwardly next to the bed, looking at his feet with a sullen expression on his face. “Hunk is the one who was there for-”

I was stopped mid-sentence by a flash of images that suddenly flooded my brain. At first I was startled into thinking it was Matt’s dream sequence, but I soon realized that Hunk was sending me the memories from what happened. As soon as the images stopped, I blinked and looked at Lance, who had a shocked look on his face.

Lance’s face drained of it’s tan complexion, turning pale, and he glanced from me to Hunk, and then back to me. 

“W- Did-?”

I put my hand on his shoulder again, recognizing that he was about to freak out again. 

He looked at me, eyes wide. “Did you see that too?” 

I nodded and looked at Matt, watching his chest rise and fall, and I realized how lucky he was to be alive. Hunk had shown me and Lance most of what happened, but I had gotten to know Hunk well enough that I knew he wasn’t showing us all the memories. 

Moving out of Lance’s way to let him keep monitoring Matt, I wondered how Hunk wasn’t appearing more shaken after everything he’d witnessed. I decided to go over the memories again, so I could get the full story of what happened instead of just small bits and pieces. I sat down on the beanbag in the corner of the room and took a deep breath, preparing myself from the worst.


	16. Chapter 16

I looked over at Hunk before I let myself into my own mind. He had the demeanor of a broken man, with his arms wrapped around his body and his eyes seeming like they were seeing something beyond the small apartment. I heard him quietly say something under his breath as I went unconscious.

I was back on the roof of Altea. Ahead of me, the street lay below, and to my left, Hunk, Matt, and Pidge were scouting. Pidge was on their computer, trying to get the comms to work, Matt was on the edge of the roof, looking out at the intersection, and Hunk was pacing the building, clearly shaken by the lack of cadets below.

I saw a man slink in the shadows below, holding an unusual weapon, and I suddenly knew he was the gunman. I cried out, but nobody reacted to my voice. I thought, “It’s like I’m not even here.” And then I realized that I wasn’t. I was just a spectator to an event that had already happened. I might as well have been watching it on a tv screen.

“Have you gotten the comms up and running yet?” Hunk bent over Pidge’s small frame, which was hunched over the keys on their computer. 

They turned to look at Hunk, glaring at him in a teasing way. “Did you hear static that could practically start an earthquake? Because I didn’t.” They laughed at their own joke and kept working at their computer. Hunk walked away, now going back to his pacing, and I kept an eye on the gunman. 

The person was still slinking from shadow to shadow, trying to find the closest place to shoot from that would still keep them from being seen. As Hunk neared Matt, who was still at the edge of the roof, I saw the gunman run quickly from one side of the alleyway to the other, and I saw Matt flinch and spin around to face Hunk.

“Did you see that?!” Matt’s eyes were wide with shock, and Hunk gave him a concerned look.

“No..?” Hunk replied, walking closer to the roof. “What was it?”

“I don’t know, it was like a shadow or something.” Matt said, shaking his head. “I’m probably just paranoid.” 

I wanted to shout, but I knew it would do no good. They couldn’t hear me in the memory. I took a deep breath and kept watching.

“In a situation like this, you can’t be too paranoid.” Pidge interjected as they were typing quickly at their keyboard. They flipped a piece of hair away from their face, and then said, “Actually, you can, but you’re fine, Matt.”

Matt made a sort of breathy laughing noise. “Thanks Pidge. For convincing me that I’m not going crazy.”

“You can’t go crazy, you’re already insane.” Pidge laughed again, examining and spinning a pen between their fingers. Where in the Hell did they get a pen..?

“Speak for yourself, why do you need a pen if you’re working on your computer?” Matt asked smugly, and 

Pidge let the pen drop into their other hand. “It’s not mine. I just found it a couple minutes ago by my stuff.”

Hunk walked over at that, looking skeptical at the new object. He held his hand out, and Pidge handed him the pen. 

Hunk opened the cap, causing ink to spill everywhere. “Shit-” Hunk swore, and then looked down past his hands at Pidge, who’s head and shoulders were now covered in ink.

“Holy Fuck Hunk, you’re dead.” Matt walked backwards away from his sibling, near the edge of the roof again. Hunk dropped the pen and walked a few steps behind Matt as Pidge looked at if they were struggling to not kill anyone there on the spot. 

Hunk’s back was turned to the roof, and he spun around just as the sound of a gunshot fired.

Matt, now standing with the toes of his shoes on the edge of the roof, turned as well. “Hunk, did you-”

He didn’t get to finish his sentence, he was knocked forward from the shot to his back. Hunk yelled out, and practically jumped after Matt to catch him from falling. He grabbed Matt’s arm just in time to keep him from falling to the ground, which was about three stories below. Matt was still conscious as Hunk pulled him the rest of the way onto the roof, but he was wincing in pain.

“What the Hell was that?” Matt could barely get the words out as Hunk helped him lay on his left side. 

Hunk took off Matt’s jacket, making him wince harder, and Pidge came running over. 

“What the Hell-” Pidge looked over their brother, who was now cracking a pained smile.

“Mother trucker dude, that hurt like a buttcheek on a stick.” Pidge and Hunk both stifled a laugh as Matt grinned like an idiot. He may have been in pain, but that didn’t stop him from making a joke.

The humor slowly subsided, and Hunk tried to get Matt to sit up as Pidge folded up his jacket.

Another shot rang through the air, sounding closer than it did the first time, I don’t know how I didn’t hear the shots as I was running towards the cafe. Hunk dropped to cover Matt from any shots, and Pidge sat against the two of them. 

It wasn’t an ordinary gun, I could tell that much when I saw it in the shooter’s hands, but I realized it more when I saw the results of the “bullet”.

It wasn’t a bullet that hit Matt, Hunk, and Pidge, a more accurate name for it would’ve been shrapnel. Hunk’s cover, unfortunately, did nothing for Matt, who was hit by the most of it. Pidge was hit by the least of it, but the small amount that did hit them was near their face and arms. Hunk had been hit on the back and left side, making large red blotches on his yellow shirt.

Hunk got himself off Matt, and Pidge helped him lift Matt’s shirt to check for any major injuries he had sustained. I couldn’t hear it in the memory, but when I saw myself climb up the fire escape I knew that they had been thinking the “What the Hell?” and the, “That’s weird.” at that moment.

The memory faded back to white, and I felt myself come back to the present. Hunk was now standing over Matt, helping Lance with disinfecting the scrapes and burns along his arms and chest. I was laying on the carpeted rug in the middle of the room, and I was glad that one of them thought to lay me down after I passed out.

Matt’s shirt, which was stiffened with blood, was draped over a chair across the room. I knew that Lance would try to wash it later, along with mine and Hunk’s, if given the time and chance to.

I didn’t say anything as I sat up and grounded myself, finding five things I could touch, four things I could see, and so on. It was a tactic Lance had taught to me, after learning about it in one of his therapy sessions. 

I started to get up to help, but sat myself back down when I felt dizzy. I saw my vision go black and fuzzy at the edges, and heard Lance say my name. I didn’t hear what he said after that, something about “You’re awake!”, and I put the hand that wasn’t supporting me on my head, trying to concentrate on keeping my mind clear.

My vision cleared, and I saw Lance kneeling next to me. 

“Keith, you okay buddy?” He smiled a concerned smile at me, and I nodded. He brushed a piece of my hair out of my face, and held out his hand. 

“Do you think you can stand?” I grabbed his hand in response, and he helped me get to my feet. I almost tripped, but Lance kept one hand on my shoulder, and the other holding mine, to keep my upright. He sat me in the beanbag chair, and started to walk back to Matt.

“I have to go back to helping Matt, if you need anything, tell me. Alright?”

“Alright.” My voice was strained, and it sounded like when you wake up and your voice doesn’t want to work for the first couple minutes. Lance nodded, smiling again at me, and then went back to Matt. I watched as he and Hunk bandaged and disinfected all the blisters and cuts, and I silently hoped that Matt would make it out alive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another somewhat long chapter! I felt like I needed to kind of go over what happened while Keith was gone, so yeah. :/
> 
>  
> 
> hhjsksk I'm sorry


	17. Chapter 17

I sat in the corner of the room for what felt like hours, just watching Hunk and Lance do the best they could for Matt with the limited supplies they had. In the time I had been sitting, Lance had gotten a glass of water for me, and I was almost completely better now that I had let myself be calm for awhile. I didn’t know how long I had been sitting, but I did know that I had to get back to trying to solve whatever was going on.

A lot of people, including Lance and Shiro, have told me that I have a sort of ‘Hero Complex’, and I knew that it could be a problem, but I didn’t ever let that stop me throughout my life. I stood up and walked over to Lance and Hunk.

Matt looked a lot better than he did when Hunk had first brought him to the apartment. At this point, he was only wearing a necklace and a pair of leggings, which I assumed he wore as a sort of armour. All his injuries had been bandaged, and most of the blood had been washed away from his face and hair, but even in his improved condition he still hadn't become conscious.

“How long do you think until he wakes up?” I asked, mostly to Lance. 

“My best guess is about an hour or so? I can’t be too sure, though, he’s been through a lot.” Lance said this in a way that seemed thoughtful, but to me it seemed like he was worried. 

He saw my concerned expression. 

“At most, he’ll be awake by morning.” 

I looked at the clock hanging on the wall and was shocked. It only read as 1:34, but it had felt like so much longer than that. So much had happened since the mission had started a few hours ago, it had felt like so many lifetimes.The realization slowly came over me that all the things that had happened so far had all taken place in only six hours, and that we still had six hours until morning. 

“I have to go back out there.” I said out loud. Hunk and Lance both turned to look at me, concern and shock on their faces.

“Are you sure you want to-” I interrupted Hunk in the middle of his sentence.

“I have to.” I paced the apartment as I grabbed my things, my jacket, gloves, everything.

“The comms haven’t even come back on, what if you get hurt?” Lance’s face looked like that of a concerned mother’s face would as he spoke. 

I decided to test my abilities more, I asked him the standard, “Can you hear me?”

He didn’t express that he’d heard me, so I’d assumed he didn’t hear me. He opened his mouth to speak, but I got a message instead.

“What happens when you can’t respond?”

I felt my heart drop to my feet. “I will.”

His face softened as his eyes glistened with tears that hadn’t yet fallen. He brushed my fingertips as I walked by towards the door, and as I turned my head to look at him, he lightly brushed my hair away from my face. He laid his forehead against mine, and gently wrapped his arms around my shoulders. In that moment, we didn’t have to speak, yet we understood everything each other’s thoughts perfectly.

As the moment subsided, Hunk dried his hands on a towel and gathered his things. 

“If you’re going, I’m coming with you.” He wasn’t going to let me say no, I knew that, so I helped him gather his things. The power had been out the entire time we were here, but with the flames still illuminating even the darkest corners, it may have been the middle of the day.

Hunk and I descended the stairs, taking two at a time, reaching the first floor in less than half a minute. We got on the motorbike, and I was filled with dread as I felt another source pulling at me. I started the engine, going slow at first and picking up speed as I continued to drive down the city streets. I followed the force that guided me, feeling anxious as to who, or what, it was leading me towards.

Hunk and I didn’t speak for the entire first half of the drive. I wasn’t asked any questions as to where I was going, instead I was asked, “Do you feel that?”

“Feel what?” I wasn’t sure of what he was talking about. Was he asking about the pulling feeling, or was he asking about something completely different?

“A weird sort of buzzing in your chest?” He sounded anxious, and I shook my head.

“No, why?” I was weirded out now. Could he sense life forces too? I sensed it in a pulling sensation, could he feel it in a different way?

“I’ve been feeling it since we started driving,” He paused, seemingly trying to figure out how to word his sentence. “I didn’t really pay attention at first, but it’s getting harder to ignore.” 

“I don’t exactly know what that is, you might be sensing someone’s life force?” I suggested.

“What do you mean?” 

I laughed in a nervous, embarrassed sort of way. I wasn’t sure how I was going to say this, now I knew how Hunk felt, trying to explain what he was feeling.

“I can sense life forces.” I started, taking a deep breath. “For me, it’s like something is pulling me in a certain direction, like I’m on a rope or something.”

I could feel him nod behind me. “Kind of like Google maps, when it tells you where to go?”

I laughed again, testing his connection to it in my mind. “I guess?” I felt him nod again, and I continued with my original thought. 

“You might be sensing someone’s life force as well.” I leaned forward in my seat, paying attention to how fast I was going. It wasn’t too fast for me to control, but it was fast enough to send both me and Hunk flying if we crashed. 

“When did you realize you could sense life forces?” He asked, and I drew in a sharp breath. I didn’t want to go back and try to remember when I first realized I had that ability, but I didn’t want to leave Hunk hanging either.

“I can’t answer that right now.” I decided to respond with that. It was the best option at the moment, given that I was driving and I didn’t want to take my attention away from what I was doing. 

I increased the speed of the bike even more, still following the pulling in my chest. I focused on guiding the bike through the rubble, quickly maneuvering down deserted alleyways and abandoned intersections.

Hunk started talking a little while later, and I decreased my speed.

“Keith, slow down.” He sounded slightly panicked, and I stopped the bike. The pulling in my chest was stronger than it had ever been, and I realized that Hunk was probably not having fun with the buzzing feeling if he was sensing life forces.

He got off the bike, now leaning against a wall. His hand was on his chest, and he slowly slid himself down the wall into a sitting position.

Hunk coughed, and drew in a strained breath. “Keith I gotta go back, if what you were saying is right, then by the time we get there-”

I stopped him and put a hand on his shoulder, making a quick decision as I spoke. “I’m going to take you to Altea. You should be okay there.” 

He shook his head. “What about the shooter?”

I thought for a moment, going back through my memories of Altea. “There’s a storage room inside the building, I’ll take you there.” He nodded, and I continued. “You can lock yourself in there, there’s windows near the top, so you’ll be able to see, and there’s food in there if you have to stay for a long time.” 

His breathing didn’t slow at all, so I added, “I’ll come back for you before you’ll need to eat anything.” He nodded, and I helped him get back on the bike. He held onto my shoulders as I started the engine of the motorbike, and I immediately heard his breathing become less labored as I turned in the opposite direction and headed towards Altea.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey you guys, I got another chapter written finally! It seems like it's been awhile since I've posted anything, and I feel like I'm stalling a little -_-
> 
> (I also don't know how many chapters this is going to be, I'm guessing somewhere between 25 and 30?)
> 
> If you've gotten this far, thank you and I hope you enjoy the rest of the story!

Hunk didn’t say a word the entire trip. I didn’t try to engage conversation, I could tell from the atmosphere around him that if he tried to talk, he would start crying. Even from the limited things I knew about him, I knew that he hated crying in front of people. 

I wouldn’t have judged him if he did cry, I knew what he was going through. After realizing his best friend was dead, and then seeing the person he loves in the place just between this world and the next, I would’ve been in the same situation as him. 

I didn’t realize we had gotten to Altea until I was walking down the hallway towards the storage room, Hunk trailing behind me. Despite the apparent power outage, I flicked the light switch up when I got to the storage room, with no luck. 

There was orange-red light streaming through the high windows, so the room, even without power, was somewhat lit up. I could sense the apprehension and anxiety that was coming off of Hunk in waves. I pulled out an empty milk crate for him to sit on, and then pulled one out for myself.

We still didn’t speak, but after a couple minutes of us sitting in silence, I saw that slow tears were streaming over Hunk’s face.

I’d never been good at helping people with their emotions, after never really having help from other people besides Shiro, who wasn’t very good at it either. I put my hand on his shoulder and let him lean against me.

It was surprisingly easy for me to hold his weight, considering that he seemed almost twice the size of me, but at one point he straightened himself up and just put his head in his hands.

“I’m sorry,” He choked out, trying to get himself together.

I felt bad just sitting there, not knowing how to help. “You’re okay, It’s gonna be alright.” I said, putting a hand on his shoulder. 

He turned his head to glance at me, his hands now in his hair. “I know, it’s just-”

He stopped mid-sentence and took a deep breath. His voice was shaky, but it didn’t sound like he could barely talk anymore. 

“After Matt almost died, and then Pidge-”

He stopped and took another deep breath, looking back at his feet.

“I’m sorry”

“I’s okay, you don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.” I reassured him, but he continued.

“I don’t wanna lose Matt, too.” He shook his head as more tears threatened to fall from his eyes. “I don’t want him to be gone.”

“I know, Hunk, it’s going to all be okay.”

I reassured him again, and he moved his hair out of his face as he said, “It seems like sometimes, he’s the only one that actually cares about me.”

He looked over at me, and freaked out a little at my facial expression.

“No no- It’s not- I know you and Lance care, too, but-”

I stopped him before he could finish explaining, “Hunk, it’s okay. I know what you mean.” 

He brought his hands to his head again and sighed. “I’m sorry, Keith.”

I couldn’t help but smile sympathetically at him. “It’s okay, you don’t have anything to be sorry for.”

After he had mostly calmed down, which was about two minutes later, I got two messages at once.

The first one was from Hunk, “I don’t wanna keep you here, you need to go find whoever was doing the life-force thing. I’ll be fine here.”

I responded aloud, “Are you sure?”

Hunk nodded, and I started gathering my things as I reviewed the second message, which was from Lance.

“Are you okay? I don’t know if you can hear this or not, but I hope you can so you can tell me whether you’re okay or not.” 

The message sounded worried, I responded to him as well. It was a little more complicated, since Lance wasn’t telekinetic, I had to actually send him the message instead of just putting it clearly in my mind for him to read. 

“Lance, I’m okay. Hunk and I are at Altea right now, I’m dropping him off here. I found another life force, and it was bothering Hunk. I’ll explain more in person.”

Sending the message to Lance was kinda like throwing a baseball, in a way. I had the thought in my mind, and I just kind of projected it to Lance. It was like when you send an email to someone, and it shrinks out the side of the screen, except it was in mine and Lance’s mind.

I walked down the hallway and out the door to Adam’s motorbike. I felt guilty for leaving Hunk at Altea, but we both knew it was for the best. I started the bike again and drove back the way I had come from, now feeling the force stronger than it had been just a couple minutes ago.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realized I haven't posted anything in a long while, so to make up for it I made sure this chapter is somewhat long (At least, I think it's somewhat long).  
> I'm sorry it's been such a long time, I just haven't been writing. :/

I rode down side streets I’d never seen before, taking countless turns and speeding through dozens of burned-out traffic lights. The pulling felt as if I was on a fish hook, I couldn’t turn away from it even if I tried.

“Keith, where are you?”

The speed of the motorbike dropped significantly as I heard the message.

“Holy shit- Allura?”

There was a pause before I got another message, and I pulled over right before I heard Allura’s voice again.

“Where are you?” 

I looked around, trying to make sense of the buildings around me. I had been so absorbed in following the life force I hadn’t paid attention to where I was going. I projected an image of what I was seeing to Allura, hoping she could see it.

“Stay there, I’ll be there in less than five minutes.”

Apparently she had seen what I was seeing, but now I was confused about how long she said it would be until she would be in my location. What had she been doing this far out of the city?

“You’re not that far outside the city.” Allura responded to my question. “You’re only about five miles from Altea.”

“Where are you?” I asked. If she was five minutes away, that meant she was a little less than a mile away.

“I’m near the post office, if you know where that is.”

I knew where that was, that’s where-

‘Stop.’ I told myself, not wanting to flash back right now. I needed to stay alert, not thinking about the post office.

“See you in a bit.” I replied quickly. I examined myself in the mirror of the motorbike. My face was covered in scratches, unsurprisingly, and my hair was a mess. I knew nobody else cared, but I did, so I ran my fingers through the dark, ash-stiffened strands that fell in front of my eyes. 

I realized my mistake after I had ran my fingers through my hair, and now I was irritated at the static that caused my hair to puff and block my vision. I checked my left wrist, and then my right, finding a hair tie that I hoped and subconsciously knew I had, and tied up my hair in a small ponytail near the top of my head. 

I heard breathing as I turned to face an alleyway to my right. 

“Where did you get the bike?” Allura’s face was filled with confusion and concern.

“I found it at Adam’s.” I said simply, and she nodded. I was relieved that she already knew who Adam was, so I didn’t have to explain. 

Allura got on the bike, and I started driving through the streets again, still following the pulling that I was now starting to get used to.

I didn’t let my mind drift while I was driving; I knew there weren’t cars to worry about, but I still needed to pay attention. It was getting harder to concentrate on my driving as the pulling went from irritating to painful. 

“Are you alright?” Allura asked from behind me. 

“I’m fine.” I said, ignoring the pain as best as I could. 

We turned onto a few side streets, and ended up on an intersection I’d never seen before. I went to ask Allura where we were, but before I could even think of how I would word my question, I saw a figure sitting against a building just ahead of us.

“Allura, I’m pulling over.” I had to resort to messaging Allura, since the energy from the new life force was making me unable to speak.

Allura and I got off the bike, and she flipped the kickstand out as I ran over to the figure. I recognized the tuft of hair and the jacket before I was even ten feet from the person.

I crouched down and pushed the figure’s hair out of his face as he groaned in pain. He saw me in front of him, and attempted a small smile, which looked more like a grimace.

“Keith, what’re you..?” He slurred his words, sounding almost intoxicated, and I saw that the side of his face was bruised as if he’d gotten thrown against a wall.

“Shiro, just relax, me and Allura are going to get you out of here.” I projected, realizing that Shiro was the one who’s life force was affecting me so badly. I then sent a message to Allura, “Allura, I need you to help me get Shiro on the bike.”

Allura ran over, carefully placing her arms under Shiro’s shoulders. 

“Can you stand?” She asked, looking him in the eyes.

“I think so.” Shiro replied, and Allura then proceed to lift him to an upright position. He hissed in pain, but didn’t trip as Allura and I led him to the bike.

“Can you drive?” I asked as we got Shiro on the bike. I still couldn’t talk, and now that we had Shiro with us, I knew my condition was only going to get worse. She gave me an approving look, and I got on the bike behind Shiro.

I held Shiro up as Allura got into the driver’s seat. I was surprised for a moment that all three of us fit on the bike, but as soon as Allura started driving I remembered that Hunk, Matt, and I had all fit on the bike only an hour before.

“Where are we going?” I messaged Allura, looking around at the trees that were now scorched by the impending flames and smoke. 

“Altea.” She responded quickly, I knew she was worried about Shiro. They may not have been in a relationship, but they were the closest friends anyone could have imagined. 

None of the three of us said anything on the drive to Altea, the only thing that happened while we were traveling was that Shiro had gone unconscious.

Allura parked the bike near the back entrance of Altea, as to not be noticed by anyone who was still out there. I ran up to the door, unlocking the pin pad, as the comms blared on.

Me and Allura looked at each other as Shiro’s voice echoed through the speakers. “All cadets and officers, please report to the base immediately. Officer 00110001 has declared a surrender.” 

The comms fizzed out again with a smaller static noise. I punched the pin in faster, knowing that if the person who was broadcasting over the comms was close, thay had heard the static. Allura had woken up Shiro, and as soon as I opened the door to let the three of us in, Hunk went to go out.

He let out a surprised yell, and then cried, “Keith, Allura, what’re you doing here? Is That Shiro-”

“Yes, that’s Shiro, get inside!” I messaged quickly. Hunk apologized under his breath as he moved aside to let us in. I slammed the door behind Shiro and Allura, hearing the automatic lock kick in.

The four of us made our way silently to the storage room, and as we reached the doorway Hunk pulled out two more milk crates.

“You guys need to explain what’s-”

I interrupted him with a memory sequence of what had happened, and as it ended he nodded and looked at me.

“We should get back to Lance’s.” He said, starting to get up. “Allura, will you and Shiro be okay here?”

“No, that’s not happening.” I messaged, looking at Hunk. “We’re going to get Shiro to Lance’s. I don’t know what happened to him, but we need to get him somewhere where he can rest.”

“So what are we going to do?” Allura asked, turning her gaze to me and Hunk. Shiro was unconscious again, and she tapped his forehead to wake him up again. I hear her mutter about how he had to stay awake as I thought of an answer.

“Hunk, Shiro and I will take the bike.” I said, brainstorming as I talked. “Allura, if you’re okay with this, you’ll be running.”

“I’m fine with running,” Allura scoffed, “I’m just worried about you and Shiro.” She finished, and Hunk looked all three of us over as he realized that it wasn’t just Shiro who was in bad condition.

I didn’t feel like I was in bad condition, but considering that I couldn’t talk, and the fact that Shiro’s life force was making me feel sick, I probably didn’t look like I was in tip-top shape.

“That sounds like a good idea.” Hunk replied to me, and then he added, “I’ll drive.”

Allura nodded, and she and Hunk got Shiro to his feet. The color was slowly draining from his face, and I knew he was in a lot of pain, even if he wouldn’t say so himself. Allura started running as I sent her a picture of Lance’s apartment, and Hunk, Shiro, and I all drove in the same direction.


	20. Chapter 20

Allura arrived at Lance’s house five minutes after we did, scaring us as her knocking on the door rattled through the small space. She knocked her code, seemingly out of habit, and I let her in, knowing it was her. As soon as she walked in, I locked the deadbolt, and then slid the chain in place. I felt paranoid, and Pidge’s words echoed through my head, “In a situation like this, you can’t be too paranoid.” 

I shook my head, feeling my small ponytail swish back and forth, and then turned to face the room where Matt and Lance had been when Hunk and I had left.

Lance wasn’t there anymore, he was sitting on the couch, head in his hands as he was trying to comprehend what was going on, but Matt was still in bed. He looked a lot better, Ace bandages covering the bad cuts and burns. Lance had done a good job taking care of him.

Hunk was sitting in the beanbag chair on the other side of the room, tears running down his face again. I walked over to help him as Allura filled in Lance about what was happening.

“Listen, he’s going to wake up. It’s going to be okay.”

He turned his head to face me as I sat on the carpet next to him. He sniffed as he got up and moved the beanbag chair aside, now sitting on the floor with me.

“You didn’t have to get up.” I messaged as reassuring as I could. I looked past his head to see that Matt’s clothes were no longer hanging on the chair. I figured Lance had taken them down to the laundromat or something.

“I know.” Hunk said rustily, sniffing again. He looked over at Matt, who had a small smile on his unconscious face.

“I hope he wakes up soon.” Hunk sent to me. I figured it was easier than talking right now for him, and I understood.

“I do too.” I messaged back, looking at the necklace around Matt’s neck. It wasn’t anything extravagant or anything, but by the way it looked I could tell it help importance to Matt. The necklace was just a small, gold-colored key, hanging on a silver chain.

“He got the key from a journal he’s had since he was about 14.” Hunk messaged, answering a question I didn’t know I had. “He was so happy when I got him the chain, because he had always kept the key in his pocket, and I knew he was paranoid of losing it.”

I nodded and zoned out as I imagined the scenario Hunk was vaguely describing. I could see the look on Matt’s face, but that was about it. I was still feeling sick from the life force that Shiro possessed, and it was slowly getting worse.

In my slight daze, I changed the subject back to earlier.

“Hey Hunk, you know how you asked me earlier how I knew I could sense life forces?” 

Hunk responded to my message cautiously, “Are you sure you’re okay with answering it? You seemed nervous when I asked you about it earlier.”

I nodded. “I didn’t want to answer earlier because I was driving and I didn’t want to distract myself.”

Hunk thought for a moment, and then nodded. “But you’re okay now?”

“Yeah, I’m okay.” I replied, smiling a little bit as I messaged him. He was always worried about other people’s safety, even when he didn’t need to be. 

As I went to message Hunk again, I heard rustling and a pained groan come from the other side of the room. Hunk and I both looked up to see and extremely disoriented Matt looking around.

“Where the Hell am I?”


	21. Chapter 21

“Matt!” Hunk exclaimed happily, and then realized he was almost yelling. “Sorry-”

“You’re fine,” Matt said groggily, shutting his eyes as he laid his head down on the pillow again. “What happened?”

“How much do you remember?” Lance asked, a cup of water in his hand. He had made his way into the bedroom somehow without anyone noticing, startling both me and Hunk. Matt wasn’t fazed by Lance’s sudden appearance, however, and he answered after going through his memories from earlier.

“I remember Hunk exploding a pen all over Pidge.” He said slowly, still filing through what he remembered. 

He spoke again after a brief pause, squinting his eyelids in concentration. “And then I remember something hitting me, and then I almost fell, but I didn’t, and I quoted a vine and that’s all I remember.” Matt opened his eyes again, looking around the room. His eyes met mine, and I nodded as he smiled.

“Hey Keith, what’s up?”

I shrugged, not knowing how to answer to him that I couldn’t talk. My head was hurting from messaging so much, and I didn’t want to confuse Matt by sending my answer telepathically.

“His voice isn’t really working right now, Matt.” Hunk spoke in a slow tone so Matt, in his slightly delirious state, wouldn’t be confused or overwhelmed. “Something happened on the mission and he lost his voice.”

As Hunk said this, Lance looked at me with a strange expression on his face. I couldn’t read Lance for the life of me, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to now, so I looked at Matt. His expression was solemn as a small, “Oh.” escaped his lips.

Matt tried to sit up, using Hunk for support as Lance set the cup of water on the nightstand and left the room. I followed Lance to the living room where Allura and Shiro were, sitting on the floor in front of the couch Shiro was laying on.

Shiro looked better than he did earlier, but he still didn’t look good. The way his face was, and the way he was laying on the couch, he looked like a little kid who had to stay home because of the flu. His face was still pale, and he was half asleep, judging by his partially closed eyes.

“Are you feeling any better?” Allura asked from the arm of the couch where she was sitting.

I shrugged again, and then messaged, “Allura, would you be willing to go back out there?”

Her eyes widened as she read the message, but she kept calm as she replied, “Yes, but you realize that there’s only the two of us, and possibly Hunk if we can convince him to come?” She continued talking before I could answer. “And you realize that the person we would be looking for and fighting has killed off almost every other cadet and officer?”

It was now my turn to look at her with a confused and scared expression on my face. “How do you know that every other cadet and officer is dead?”

She looked down towards her knees, which were against her chest, and her eyes looked like those of a war veteran’s as she replied, “Keith, I was in the base when this entire thing started.” She paused, but I didn’t understand what she was implying, so she continued. 

“We have stats on every cadet and officer that has ever been recruited.” She looked from her lap up to me. “I watched as every cadet and officers’ stats went dark, I sat there, paralyzed in fear, as every person on the mission except for you three fell and didn’t get up.” Her breath hitched, and she slowly steadied herself. 

 

I looked at her, my eyes still wide, feeling like a bad person because of what I had said. “Allura, I-”

“I know.” She interrupted, nodding her head slowly. 

She turned to look at Lance, who was standing on the opposite side of the couch. He looked from me, back to Allura, and then back at me before asking, “Is everything alright?”

“Lance, would you be able to watch Shiro?” Allura asked, sliding gracefully off the couch onto her feet. 

“Yeah, why do-” He stopped, seeing Allura grab her jacket, which she had thrown on the floor in the middle of the living room, and watching me as I fiddled with my comms. “You guys are leaving again, aren’t you?” 

I nodded painfully, I didn’t want to go as much as he didn’t want me to leave, but the person was still out there and we still had a problem to solve.

Seemingly reading my mind, even though we both knew he couldn’t, really, he took a breath and wrapped his arms around me again. I met his embrace, and he whispered something I barely heard.

“I’ll come back.” I promised, just like I had before, but this time it was harder to believe for all of us. 

Allura and I stepped out into the hallway, and then ran down the stairs, taking two at a time, just as me and Hunk did. It was giving me Deja Vu as we ran outside to the motorbike, knowing that I had just done almost the exact same thing earlier. It way have been only a few hours ago, if even that, but it had felt like a lifetime.

As Allura hopped into the driver’s seat, and I got on behind her, the comms blared once again. 

“All cadets and Officers, please return to the base. Officer 00110001 has declared a surrender.”

When the static didn’t cut out, I got scared. Allura looked back at me, having not started the bike yet, and started to ask a question. The comms interrupted her.

“And remember, patience yields focus.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OMG hi okay this did not turn out as expected but yeah I think it's better than the other version I had ~_~
> 
> So yeah basically the other version was typed by a sleep-deprived me that didn't know what they were doing, bc for one reason or another I couldn't concentrate XD
> 
> Now you have this and it's a lot better
> 
> Also I'm sorry


	22. Chapter 22

“Where are we going?” I messaged Allura, already feeling slightly better now that we had moved away from the apartment. I still felt the tugging at my chest, but it wasn't so bad anymore. I tried to hum or say a few words, but my voice still wasn’t working. 

“Altea.” She replied. Everything today had to do with that coffee shop, and I was starting to feel a sense of dread every time the name was even mentioned. Considering the things that had happened there, it wasn’t surprising that I was filled with anxiety as we neared the familiar complex.

We pulled onto the curb back behind the store again, and quickly scaled the ladder to the roof. I felt my heart fall to my stomach when I saw that almost all of Pidge’s stuff was still in the same spot it had been in before we left. Their computer, their backpack, which was filled with all their notebooks-

I remembered the memory that Hunk had sent to me, and I looked slightly to my left to see what was left of the pen that had exploded everywhere. By now, it was just the plastic casing, surrounded by a puddle of gelled, black ink. Allura saw the pen too, and she crouched down to swipe off some of the blueish-black smudge from the cement.

I saw her examine the ink for a second, rubbing it between her first finger and her thumb, and suddenly she hissed through her teeth and wiped the ink on the fabric of Pidge’s backpack.

I jumped back in alarm, while Allura shook her hand a little bit. “What happened?” I asked as I settled back to the position I was in before I flinched.

Allura looked at the front of her hand, and then the back. “Don’t touch the ink.” She said, clenching her hand carefully into a fist and moving herself to a standing position. I did the same, walking to one side of the roof to look out at the empty streets below. “Got it.” I messaged back, attempting to figure out what the ink had done.

My head flashed back to Matt standing on the roof, in almost the exact spot I was standing, and I stepped back. As I did, static loudly went through the comms again, but this time there was nobody talking through them. The static ended, and I saw a shadow streak out from behind one building to another.

“Allura!” My voice was more like a hoarse whisper than the yell I wanted it to be, but she had heard me nonetheless. She quietly ran over, shushing me, and beckoned me to follow her. She then went over to the fire escape, and we rapidly descended the stairs on the opposite side of the building from the ladder we had climbed up. 

I thought for a moment that we were going all the way down, but when we reached to doorway to the second story of Altea, Allura stopped and fumbled in her pockets. I was surprised and confused to see her pull a ring of keys out of her pocket, and then was more confused as she fumbled to find one and unlocked the door. She practically dragged me inside as she engaged the deadbolt and the chain on the door.

Allura switched off her comms bracelet, and that was when I realized what was kind of going on. 

Whoever was impersonating Shiro, whoever was broadcasting over the comms, was using the static to find any cadets or officers that were still alive. That’s why Allura switched her’s off; she didn’t want to be found. I switched mine off the instant I understood, and sent a message to Hunk and Lance to switch their’s off, too. I didn’t send one to Matt, worrying about how much energy I needed to conserve; I prayed that either Lance or Hunk would tell him.

Allura dragged me to a room in the back of what I now saw was an apartment. I didn’t ask who’s it was; I assumed it was hers, but if it wasn’t I was in no hurry to find out how she had gotten a key. We stepped into a room that I could only describe as a library, Allura engaging the deadbolt and chain that was on this door, as well. Allura and I flinched when we heard a loud crashing sound come from below us, and I followed her as she climbed one of the shelves onto a small upper level of the room.

The upper level was like an attic; dusty, small, and hot. The ceiling was extremely low, to the point where I could barely stand, and the heat from the flames that had passed by hours ago was almost unbearable. The crashing sounds continued, and as Allura and I crouched in the “attic”, we both heard something that made the hair stand up on my arms.

From the small coffee shop below us, we heard static. “Thank God Allura and I shut off our comms,” I thought, and I listened carefully to what the person below us was saying.

I couldn’t understand it at first, but soon the talking became clearer. 

“Cadets and Officers, please return to the base…”

It was the same thing the person had said twice before now, but there was something different about his voice. It sounded more panicked now, and the command was interrupted at the second, “Officer” by a loud, blaring, laser-like sound, along with a yell from the person. I was genuinely worried for a split second before it sank in that he was doing this to draw more people in.

I sent another message to Hunk. “Did you guys turn off your comms?” I got no answer, so I tried to send a message to Lance. “Lance, listen to me, if you haven’t shut off your comms already, do it now.”

Hunk responded after what felt like ten minutes, even though it had only really been about ten seconds. “I just shut off mine, and Lance shut off his too. I made Matt shut off his, even though he didn’t want to.” He paused for a second, and then asked, “Where are you?”

I panicked, responding with, “It doesn’t matter, me and Allura know what we’re doing. Just stay there with Lance and Matt and Shiro.” 

“Got it.” Hunk didn’t sound sure of himself, but I knew he would stay to help protect the others. I knew he cared about them, and I also knew that he didn’t want to go back out here with us. 

As soon as Hunk sent the affirmative message to me, my vision focussed, and I almost yelped as I saw that there was a hold in the floor. I scrambled to get to solid ground, but I realized that although there was a hole, nothing was falling through.

“Keith, what’s wrong?” Allura asked me, a look of genuine concern on her face. 

“Do you see that?” I sent, pointing at the absence of floor beneath us. I could see the coffee shop below, and I could also see the person below us. If there was a hole in the floor, he hadn’t noticed yet.

“See what?” Allura looked around in the direction where I was pointing, and her expression turned from concern to revelation. 

“The hole in the floor!” I would’ve shouted, since nobody could hear our conversation, but I decided against it.

“There’s not a hole in the floor,” she said calmly, placing a hand over where I saw the hole. Her hand flattened, as if hitting a solid object. And I was more confused than ever. I copied her to find I couldn’t put my hand through the “hole” either.

“What the Hell?” I couldn’t think of anything else through my rapidly increasing confusion.

“X-ray vision.” Allura replied, taking her hand away. “I’ve never met a cadet before who had the ability to see through objects.” She waved a hand in front of my face, which startled me, and all the sudden I could see the floor again. I focussed, and suddenly the shop below appeared as quickly as it disappeared.

I focussed on the man, ignoring Allura’s questions, and saw him below look down at his right hand. The shop was illuminated a few seconds later, and it took me a few seconds to realize what was happening. I quickly turned to Allura, the floor appearing again below us. 

Allura was up before I was; after reading my mind to see what was happening, she grabbed my arm and sprinted to the door. I followed, and she quickly unlocked it and ran, not bothering to close it behind her.

I got on the bike and started it as Allura kept running. She was extremely fast, and by the time I started driving she had already rounded the corner towards Lance's apartment.

As I rounded the same corner Allura had seconds earlier, I could feel the heat of the flames that reflected off the side mirror on my bike. We had to get to the apartment as fast as we could, both Allura and I understood that. Altea wouldn't hold up long, and fires spread quickly. I increased my speed and weaved my way through the rubble filled streets.

I didn't have time to shut off the bike as the two of us raced into the apartment, skipping stairs on our way up.

“We have to get out of here.” Allura and I said at the same time. The pulling in my chest wasn't so bad anymore, and my voice had come back enough for me to talk above a whispering level.

Nobody asked questions on the way out except for Matt. “Where are we going?”

“Adam's.” I said quickly, and I got on the bike. Shiro and Lance got on behind me, and Allura, Hunk, and Matt started running. As I drove a little ways behind them, I was glad Matt had become conscious, and I was glad that he could heal quickly. We would've been in way bigger trouble if he couldn't run.

I sent Allura the coordinates to Adam and Shiro's old house as I drove past them, hoping the house was still standing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prepare yourselves for the next chapter. 
> 
> And all the ones after this.
> 
> It will help


	23. Chapter 23

We got to the house, and although the surrounding trees and buildings were slightly charred, Adam's old house remained mostly unscathed. The front door was unlocked and everyone piled into the building. Shiro and I were reluctant to enter the house, but we keep we had to face it.

Everything was the same as the last time I had seen it. The furniture was still in the same places and the same pictures were on the walls, the only difference was that the scent of smoke covered the lingering scent of air freshener that Adam had used back when he was alive. 

Lance looked around at the pictures on the walls, which were mainly pictures of Shiro and Adam. He pointed to one near the couch, which was one of me throwing a handful of playing cards at Shiro after losing a game of uno.

“Did you guys live here?” He asked, and I nodded.

“We lived here when I was eight.” I replied. “And then we moved when I was 15.” 

Hunk made Matt lay down on the couch, despite his protests. “How come you guys moved?” 

Shiro hissed between his teeth, and the pulling sensation got worse for a split second. I would have to keep an eye on Shiro, since our life forces were seemingly connected at the moment.

“That's a long story.” I told Hunk, and started going around the house. I figured we should probably have supplies if we were to go out and fight.

I stopped at the cupboards first and found a bag of chips. I threw them towards the others.

“You guys should eat something. You're going to need it.” Allura grabbed the bag of chips and handed them to Lance. He sat down on the floor and opened them, taking a few and passing the bag to Hunk. 

“I'm going to look for other supplies.” I announces, and Shiro turned to me.

“I'm coming with you.” He said, and we made out war to the garage.

I started looking through drawers and cabinets, looking for anything useful. I had my knife, but I knew that if we were going to fight whoever was out there we would need other weapons.

Shiro dug a wrench out of a drawer. It was almost as big as his arm. “Will this work?”

I shrugged. “Can you even swing it?” 

He tried and almost threw the wrench. “I'd assume so.” He laughed, and set the wrench on the ground.

I found a lighter and a can of bug spray and threw it aside. I thought, “We can't fight fire with fire.” And then realized I had to tell everyone about what I had seen in the shop.

I quickly made my way inside, with Shiro following not far behind, despite me not saying anything.

Hunk looked up as he saw me come in. “Did you guys already find something?” 

“No, but we have something more important on our hands.” Hunk, Lance, and Matt all looked at me, concerned, and Allura looked with a sense of realization.

“What's going on?” Matt asked, sitting up and turning to face me.

I looked over the four of them, making eye contact with all of them. “The person we're fighting has powers too. I saw it when me and Allura were scouting before we came here.” 

Their looks of concern were magnified from what I had just said, so I continued. “The guy has pyrokinesis, which means he can make fire from his-” I was stopped by a knock on the door.

Shiro walked past me to look outside, and I shouted despite my strained vocal chords. 

“Shiro, don't-!” A loud blast blew the door open, knocking Shiro over in the process.

“Get out of here!” I yelled towards the four in the dining room, and Allura lead them down the hall, turning into one of the rooms. I grabbed my knife and prepared to fight.

A man almost identical to Shiro stepped into the room, looking around as he did. As he made eye contact with me, I pulled my knife out and activated it.

He pulled out a weapon I'd never seen before from his belt. “Why, hello there.” He grinned menacingly, pointing the weapon at me.

I waited for him to fire it at me, but he didn't. The pulling in my chest was almost as bad as it had been at the beginning, but I kept my eyes on the man. Shiro groaned from where he was laying on the floor.

The man turned towards the noise, looking at Shiro.

“Hmh.” He smirked. “Takashi Shirogane. The one man I've been looking for for all this time.” His voice sent chills running down my spine.

Shiro looked up at the man. “What the Hell do you want?” He tried to sit up, but ended up leaning against the wall.

The sound of the man laughing pierced through the air. “Why Takashi, I want you.” He aimed his gun at Shiro.

I threw myself at the man, knife first. “No!” I yelled, the only sound I could make with the pain in my chest worsening by the second. I felt the blade slice through the man's torso, but I was too late.

A gunshot rang through the house, and I watched as Shiro went limp, and then the man shortly after.

Allura came running out of the room, Followed by Matt and Hunk. She had her blade raised, ready to attack, when she saw Shiro and her eyes widened.

The man groaned. My knife was still piercing through his back, and I pulled back as he rolled over.

The man laughed again, his eyes closing and his breathing shallow. It made me want to stab him again.

“There are more,” he strained, coughing. “They will come..” he raised his gun, aiming towards me, but his arm collapsed before he could pull the trigger. “May the best man win.” He gasped, and the life left his body.

I collapsed onto my knees as my chest felt as if it was going to collapse. My breathing was ragged as Allura ran to Shiro. He was barely conscious as Allura held his torso up.

He groaned as Allura slid a hand under his back, sitting him up against the wall.

“What happened?” He breathed heavily, his words slurred.

“You were shot.” Allura replied. I put a hand on my chest, holding myself up with my other arm.

Lance ran out of the room to me, sliding to line up with me. “Keith, what happened?” I tried to answer him as the pain got worse. My words turned into a verbalized wince as I tightened my fist.

I saw Hunk moving towards me. “Don't-” He stopped and backed up. I put all my focus to sending him a message.

“Don't try to help me, remember the buzzing feeling from earlier?” He sent another message back.

“Is that what's happening?” He sounded worried.

I nodded painfully, and Lance put his hand on my back. I could tell he was worried about me.

I looked up at Shiro, still wincing. Allura was holding him up and talking to him.

“Do you feel any pain?”

“No.” He smiled deliriously up at Allura. “You look god-like.” He laughed, and I felt a sense of dread wash over me as I realized he was bleeding from spots all over his body.

“Shiro,” Allura smiled sadly down at him, tears in her eyes. “Now isn't the time for jokes.”

He sighed. “But if not now, then when?” He laughed again. “It's not like I'm gonna get another chance to.”

I could feel my eyes tearing up, and I could hear Shiro's breathing become more labored. 

“Allura, you guys will remember me, right?” He coughed and his eyes closed as the cloth of his shirt turned a darker darker shade of red.

Tears started dripping off her face. “Of course we will, Shiro.” he smiled again, tears now forming in his eyes.

“Good.” He barely whispered, and the pain in my chest became so bad I passed out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since Keith didn't get to finish his explanation, pyrokinesis is when someone can create fire using their mind. 
> 
> In other words the man who was in Altea (the same man that shot Shiro) can create fire on command.


	24. Chapter 24

I had passed out before the dream sequence started, so when I was flooded with memories I had the immediate thought of, “Am I dying?”

Most of the memories involved Shiro and me, but some of them didn't. I realized I wasn't dying when I saw bits and pieces of Shiro's parents, his early childhood, the school he went to, and other things he had never told me about.

I saw how he met Adam, and how Adam proposed to him. I got to experience how they decided to adopt me, and then all the memories involved me, too.

I was surprised at the fact that Shiro had retained all the memories up until he said his last words. Pidge hadn't remembered their last moments.

As the dream sequence faded away, instead of everything going white, they went black. I was left in a dreamscape of my own mind, sill being unconscious. It was strange how aware I was for not being awake.

I started seeing all my memories, and it scared me. I wondered if I was dying for the second time today, but as I couldn't recall certain bits and pieces of familiar memories I realized I couldn't be dying again.

I heard Lance's voice calling my name. His voice sounded miles away, as if he was yelling across an open field. I tried to open my eyes, which felt glued shut.

“He's alive!” Matt yelled, and my vision went in and out of focus. The pain in my chest was subsiding, but I knew I still wouldn't be able to talk.

I heard Lance say something, but having just become conscious I couldn't comprehend any of it.

I tried to sit up. My body felt as if it had been weighed down with lead. Lance put a hand on my back, and I realized someone had rolled me onto my back after I passed out.

I messaged Allura and Hunk.

“How long have I been out?” I rubbed my head.

Hunk answered immediately. “Almost two hours.” I nodded. Lance looked at me, confused.

“Can you talk?” He asked. I shook my head. He frowned, and I turned to look at Matt.

“Can you hear me?” I heard Matt's voice in my head, and I nodded.

“Good.” I didn't have to read his mind to hear him, but it was different than how Allura, Hunk and I communicated. It was as if he was throwing his thoughts at me, and I didn't understand it. I figured it had to do with me being barely conscious.

“Allura went out to find the others the guy was talking about” Matt said. “Hunk went with her. I would've gone too, but Allura told me to stay here in case they attacked again.” He looked at the doorway, and as I followed his gaze I also realized I was in a different room. 

“Where are we?” I knew I should've realized what room I was in, having lived here for almost eight years, but in my slightly delirious state I couldn't recognize the room.

“A spare bedroom.” Matt answered out loud this time. I nodded again and laid back down.

I felt my eyes start to close, and blackness clawed at the edges of my vision as I passed out again.

I thought I had transported to another place, but as I realized I couldn't do anything, I saw that I was experiencing what Allura and Hunk were doing in third person.

“Hunk, do you see anything?” She had her comms bracelet held out in front of her, and she seemed to be following a small, orange, blinking dot. Hunk was doing the same.

“No, not yet.” He looked around the corner of a building and turned right, Allura following shortly behind.

The dot on screen got closer as they rounded the corner. Allura drew her blade, and it started glowing light blue.

“I'm gonna fucking kill whoever these people are.” Allura said this more violently than I'd ever heard anyone say anything before. I could tell she was determined.

Hunk didn't say anything as they turned another corner. All of the sudden, Allura's comm bracelet started beeping. Allura quickly shut off the sound.

“Hunk, get behind me.” She ordered. Hunk stopped and allowed Allura to pass, following her movements.

Another man jumped out from behind the corner, and Allura swiftly stabbed her knife through his side, causing him to cry out. She tore the knife violently through his front, causing his torso to buckle backwards. He fell into a broken, bloody heap on the sidewalk. Hunk seemed shocked at how quickly it had happened, but Allura was unscathed. She bent down to collect the weapons he had on his belt.

“Hunk, keep an eye out in case anyone else decides to attack.” She unhooked a gun from his belt, and started looking through his pockets. She pulled a familiar looking ballpoint pen out of his pocket.

Allura examined the pen for a minute, and we both realized at the same time that it was an identical pen to the one we had found on the roof.

She turned quickly and stood up, only to face another figure covered in a black cloak.

“Hunk!” She yelled and swung her blade at the figure. He jumped out of the way as Hunk shot at him. The man, with inhuman agility, dodged that too.

Allura jumped up and swung the blade down onto the man, but as she fell through the air the man pulled out the same gun and shot towards her. The shot grazed her shoulder, and she hissed in pain. 

The blade came down with a huge amount of force, slicing easily through the man's shoulder. The man didn't utter a single sound, instead firing another shot towards Allura. This time, it hit the inside of her forearm.

Hunk tried another shot to no avail. The man turned to him and started firing. Allura came up behind him and threw her blade, and it lodged in the man's back. He fell to his knees.

Allura ran over and took her knife, and then the gun. She pointed it against his head.

“You will never win this war.” He gasped, and Allura met his last words with a single gunshot.

Hunk ran over to Allura, holding out his comm bracelet.

“Allura, look at this.” He pointed at his bracelet.

There were five more orange dots on the screen, each slowly making their way towards Hunk and Allura.

Allura hissed through her teeth again. “We're going to need help.” She grabbed her arm where the gunshot had grazed her the first time. It was bleeding and blistered around the edges.

“I could try to see if Matt can help.” Hunk suggested. “We're low on people. Lance doesn't know how to fight, Keith is in no condition to fight, Matt is our best option.” 

Allura frowned. “There's got to be another way.” Allura turned on the radio for the comms. “020899, 101202, if you're out there we need you.” She kept the comms on, and the familiar background static sound echoed through the empty street.

“Allura?” A voice came through the comms. “Where are you?” Allura gasped quietly and responded. 

“I'm sending my location.” She clicked a few buttons on her bracelet. “Get here as quickly as you can.” Allura shut off her bracelet and examined her injuries.

Hunk looked at her arm, and then down at his own hands. “Allura, can I see the gun for a second?” 

Allura handed him a gun, and he shot at the ground.

“Hunk, what are you-?” Hunk stood up after examining the place he had shot.

“It's not bullets that they're shooting with.” He gestured to her shoulder. “It's some sort of chemical.” He crouched back down and carefully touched a tiny bit with his finger. He hissed through his teeth and drew back.

The solution burned through his skin and he started bleeding. The area around the tip of his finger was blistered. 

“See? It burns through skin.” He shook his hand.

Allura nodded. “Do you think it's the same stuff that's inside the pens?” Hunk frowned as she pulled the pen she had found out of her pocket.

“I found this in his pocket.” She held out the pen for him to examine, but he refused. 

“The last time I held one of those, it broke in my hands.” Allura gasped.

“On the roof of Altea?” She asked, her words moving at a hundred miles an hour.

“Yeah, why?” 

Allura put the pen away. “When me and Keith were scouting, we found a broken pen on the roof.” She held out her hand to show the same blisters Hunk had on his hands.

“I don't think it's the same solution that's in the guns; it only blistered the skin, whereas the guns burned through.” she stood up and drew her knife.

“You're probably right.” Hunk agreed, and he stood up as well.

There was a long pause, and Allura activated her blade. 

“Who are we waiting for?” Hunk drew his gun and put it over his shoulder.

“Cadets 020899 and 101202.” She steadied her stance. “Hopefully they arrive soon, otherwise we will have bigger problems.” She looked around and saw the fire escape ladder across the street.

She deactivated the blade and put it away, dashing towards the fire escape. Hunk followed quietly behind her, and they climbed onto the first landing.

Allura explained before Hunk could ask anything. 

“If the cadets make their way to this location, we will be able to go back down. If anything or anyone arrives before them, we have an advantage by being out of reach.” She crouched and looked through the bars of the landing. Hunk prepared his gun.

A few minutes later, a small figure made their way around the corner, looking left and right before sprinting lightly under the fire escape. Allura whistled, and the figure looked up.

The girl gasped and quickly made her way up the fire escape. 

“Allura! I can't believe it!” The girl threw herself into Allura, tears running down her face.

“Romelle, I'm glad you made it here safely.” Allura held Romelle and looked around.

“Where's Bandor?” She asked quietly, and Romelle backed up, her face turning solemn.

“We were attacked at the scouting site.” Romelle replied, wiping her eyes. “We were stationed at the radio tower, I tried to help him but-” she started crying again.

“It's okay, I understand.” Allura's voice was now caring and soft, unlike the harsh tone she had earlier.

Romelle gathered herself together and stood up. Allura stood up as well.

“We should head back to where Keith, Lance, and Matt are located.” Allura decided, and the three of them made their way back down the ladder.

“Romelle, do you have any of your weapons with you?” Allura asked.

Romelle looked down at her feet as they continued walking.

“No, I dropped the only one I had when I was trying to get away from the scouting site.” She rubbed her hands together.

Allura grabbed one of the guns from her belt and handed it to Romelle. She took it gingerly.

“Be careful with it, when you pull the trigger it shoots what we presume is acid instead of a bullet.” Allura showed Romelle her shoulder. “It can and will burn through skin.” Romelle's eyes widened and she nodded.

They turned right, heading back to the house in the same direction they had come from. Allura was leading, her being the most experienced out of the three of them.

They ran down the vacant street, passing homes and cars, when an explosion rang out directly ahead of them. The blast partially hit Allura, knocking her back.

Three cloaked figures emerged from the smoke, each clutching a different weapon in their hands. One had a gun similar to the one Romelle had, one had a blade longer than their arm and the third had a sort of glowing object in their hands. They rushed at Allura, Hunk, and Romelle.

Allura spun out of the way and activated her blade, slicing the first figure directly through their torso. The first figure fell, but the other two continued attacking.

Romelle cried out as one of the figures, the one with the glowing object, advanced on her. She shot at it with the gun, to no avail.

More figures came out of the shadows, but they were different than the first. Some were wearing hoods, others were wearing strange headpieces that looked like antennae off the sides of their heads. 

Allura sprinted from person to person, using her blade with such skill that in the blink of an eye she had downed three of them. 

Hunk was shooting at the figures, and was holding up well. His gun sent them flying backwards, and luckily he had the agility to dodge their counterattacks.

Romelle was the one that was struggling. With only a handgun, the figures were advancing on her easily. She moved away from the figures, towards the center of where they were fighting.

Allura yelled as she sliced through another figure. Two more replaced the one that had fallen, and soon she was severely outnumbered. She continued to fend them off, remembering Shiro and Pidge and all the cadets who had fallen because of these people.

Blow after blow, the people fell to the ground. Although they fought against her, Allura took no notice to the injuries she was receiving. She was too filled with hatred towards these people to feel any pain.

She spun in a powerful circle, successfully adding more bodies to the ones already surrounding her. 

Soon, her swings became less powerful. Her clothes became darker and darker with each blow she aimed at the people attacking her. Her vision went fuzzy, but it did not stop her completely. As she drew her final blow she collapsed to the ground, her last breath barely audible.

\----------------------------

I shot up, trying to communicate that Hunk, Allura, and Romelle were in trouble. My vocal chords were still nonfunctional, so the warning came out as barely a whisper.

Matt grabbed his head. “Keith, oh my fucking God.” He kept his head down. 

I tried to stand up, but Lance stopped me.

“Keith, you need to lay down-”

I sent images of what I had seen to Lance, and his eyes widened as the thoughts entered his mind. I went to send the same to Matt, but he held his hand up.

“I know, I know, I've already seen all of it.” He winced and moved his other hand down. Matt stood up from his place on the floor.

“I'm going out to help them.” He announced, and he walked out of the room. I forced myself past Lance's hand and followed him.

He turned to face me. “You're not coming with me.” I went to go past him and he blocked me.

“I'm coming, and you can't stop me.” I thought, and he shook his head.

“Keith, you just woke up from being unconscious for almost three hours, before that you weren't even able to breathe properly, your vocal chords don't work-” he stopped his sentence and continued a different one. “You're not coming.” With that he turned around and continued walking towards the front door.

“Like I said, I'm coming and you can't stop me.” I walked next to him, and he didn't respond. He grabbed my shoulders, stopping me in my tracks.

“Keith. This is a life or death situation. If you go out there, you won't be able to fight at the best of your ability, and it could get you killed.”

I glared at him. “Like you're going to be able to fight at your peak condition too? Better me fight with you than you be short on people and all get killed.” He frowned. He and I both knew I was right.

“You shouldn't go.” He wasn't telling me I couldn't go anymore, which meant I had persuaded him slightly. “It's not a good idea.” He left go of me and walked out the front door, a pistol in one hand and a knife in the other.

I turned around to see Lance at the end of the hallway.

“If you're going to fight, I'm staying here.” Lance's expression was sad and determined as he said this.

“What if the house gets ambushed?” I sent, and I saw his eyes begin to water.

“I'll be a burden if I go with you. Don't worry about me.” Tears started to fall down his face, and I felt myself start to cry as well. We both walked towards each other and met in the middle of the walkway to the front door.

He kissed me passionately, his lips slightly salty from sweat and tears. I answered by kissing him back.

“Stay safe.” He whispered. His voice was shaky, and I kissed him again.

“I’ll try, I'll try.” I sent to him, and I felt his breathing hitch as I wrapped my arms around him. His hands fell onto my waist as I pulled away from his lips.

“I love you.” He murmured, his bottom lip trembling.

“I love you too.” I messaged, and I kissed him one last time as I turned to walk out the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally did it  
> I wrote a semi decent kissing scene without chickening out.
> 
> I'm proud of myself XD


	25. Chapter 25

I sprinted to catch up with Matt, who was running up the sidewalk.

“I told you, you shouldn't have come.” He said, and I grabbed my knife and activated it.

“I know, but I'll be able to help.” I replied quickly. I didn't need to project my thoughts, and I thought it as weird since Matt wasn't telepathic.

“Matt, how can you read my mind?” I asked him, and he frowned.

“I don't know. After I woke up from being unconscious, I could hear everyone thinking.” He fiddled with the gun in his right hand. “I don't know how I can do it.”

He put the knife in a pocket on his belt.

“Do you know why your thoughts sound different than Allura's and Hunk's?” I messaged him.

“What d’you mean?” he asked me.

I sniffed, moving my hand to wipe my face. I didn't want to others to know I had been crying, even if we were in the middle of a war. 

“Your voice echoes more.” I answered. “Allura's and Hunk's just sounds like they're talking, but yours sounds like you’re shouting through an empty tunnel.” 

Matt hummed. “I don't know why that is, either.” He answered. “Maybe- does it sound like I'm throwing my voice at you? If that makes any sense.”

I was taken back. Now that I thought about it, it did sound like that. “Yeah, actually.” I shook my head. "Is that what my voice sounded like when I sent messages to you?" 

He shrugged. "You never really sent messages to me."

I frowned a little bit, trying to remember if I ever sent him a message. I couldn't think of any situation where I needed to.

"Do you know why you can hear people's thoughts?" Matt gave me a weird look that I couldn't read.

“I'm not telepathic.” He answered. “I guess, I'm just sensitive to people's thoughts and emotions?” He shrugged. “I can transfer my thoughts, but it's different than just talking telepathically. With telepathy, I think it's more like having a conversation, where with how I do it it's more like a code” 

I asked what he meant. He shrugged again.

“I can read the code, because I know how it works. That's like me being able to read other people's minds.” He pointed the gun around him, looking left and right as we turned a corner. “If I want to tell someone something, I have to translate my thoughts from that code so they can read it.” 

I took a moment to think about that, and then made a whispered, “oh!” sound when I understood.

“At least, that's the most logical way I've come to think of it in like six hours.” He finished, and I reactivated my knife. During the conversation I had lost my concentration, so it had deactivated. It started glowing a bright red as we continued running.

I saw the battle before Matt did.

Around the corner, in one of the many wide streets, Romelle and Hunk were fighting just as I had seen them while I was passed out. 

Swarms of people were closing in from all directions, and me and Matt rushed to the scene. One by one they fell to the ground. Gunshots fired, knives slashing through the air like angry butterfly wings. Everything seemed to go in slow motion.

We both ran in, Matt shooting left and right and me throwing my knife towards every opponent I saw.

Hunk was struggling, the foes were now surrounding him as they had Allura. I ran to him, dodging people as I ran

I felt the tugging again as I ran, less intense this time. It distracted me, pulling me into a small panic, which caused a figure to slice into my arm.

I hissed, fighting back. The cut burned slightly, but I knew by how it felt that it wasn't deep.

Continuing Matt's path, fighting towards the center, I passed by Allura. I felt horrible about her death, as I did the others, but we were fighting a war. I grabbed her blade that was lying next to her.

I knew I wouldn't be able to activate it, but it was still useful. it wouldn't be able to slice cleanly through a person, but it would leave a mark. now, both hands occupied by a weapon, I fought my way through crowds of figures.

Flashes of light and darkness filled my vision. I continued fighting, refusing to pass out. I was scared at who's memories I might see if I passed out.

Laughter, songs I'd heard multiple times before. I tried to stay focused. 

“Don't do it Keith, don't look, don't pass out. just keep fighting” I thought as the sounds in my head rang more clearly; familiar conversations and songs gave me nostalgia and a sense of deja Vu.

I slowly realized what I was hearing. “No no no no no-” I fought with vigor, but my movements were growing slower. I had tried to control my own mind but now I felt it was going to get me killed. I sent a message to Hunk, knowing Matt probably already knew what was happening, and quickly ran to cover.

I had barely gotten to an abandoned building across the street by the time I'd passed out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm upset at myself for these last couple chapters
> 
> why do I do this 
> 
> (ThIs iS WhY I ApOlOgiZe In The TAgS)
> 
> The story is almost finished! I don't know how many chapters are left, but I don't think there will be more than about thirty :/


	26. Chapter 26

"Look!" Lance pointed at the sky, which was darkening with the setting sun, to show a bird that had taken flight. It was a blackbird, it's dark wings shining red and gold as it flew by.

I chuckled. "It's just a bird." We continued walking down the sidewalk.

"I know, but it was pretty." the words faded and more memories came.

\------------

"¿Como estas?" He asked quietly. It was the dead of night, almost 4:00 in the morning. His body was warm against mine as we lay next to each other.

"How are you?" I asked, trying to remember the translation.

"¡Sí, muy bueno!" He exclaimed quietly, and moved from his back to his side to look at me. His eyes were half closed from sleep deprivation, but he was still just as adorable as he was when he was awake, if not more. 

"You're getting better." He whispered, and moved my hair behind my ear.

"thanks." I breathed, feeling as tired as he looked.

He kissed my forehead, and I ran my fingers through his hair, pulling him closer.

"Tú eres en hombre." He suggested, and I shrugged.

"I don't know." 

He laughed, and I tiredly said, "I can only speak chimichanga for so long."

He started cracking up. "No eres un hombre, eres un chimichanga." He laughed even harder.

"What?" I smiled with him as his laughter died down slightly. "Did you just call me a chimichanga?"

He died laughing again, and I couldn't help but laugh with him. By the time we were done cracking up, there were small tears forming at the corners of my eyes. Lance smiled. 

"I called you a chimichanga." He started laughing again, and I moved closer to him.

"I love you." I said, planting a soft kiss on his lips.

"Te amo." He responded, his hand moving to rest behind my ear, just along my jawline. "I love you."

"Te amo." I repeated, laughing a little bit when he kissed me on the bridge of my nose.

"Tambien te amo." He smiled. "I love you too." He pulled away to look at me.

"Tambien te amo." I echoed his words, and he laughed. I leaned in for another kiss, and he happily obliged.

\------------  
“Are you sure you're fine explaining this?” Lance had a look of concern over his face, and I nodded, looking solemnly at my knees.

“Yeah.” I mumbled. “You should know just in case something happens and you have to help me.” He nodded.

I took a deep breath. “Akira and his gang of people all teamed up against me when I was like 14.” Lance's facial expression turned dark. He and I both knew who Akira was.

“I was walking from the park back to the foster home, I was by the post office, and they decided to pick a fight.”

He nodded. “Isn't that when they- you know?” He asked me. I nodded.

“It got a lot worse than that though.” He put his hand on my knee, and I leaned against him. “After they burned my shirt and whatever, and I passed out, they-” I choked on my words. I knew I wasn't going to cry, I just couldn't bring myself to physically say it. I rolled up my sleeves to show my arms to Lance.

“What the Hell?” Lance grabbed my left arm, the one closest to him, and carefully looked over it.

“They carved all of it while I was unconscious.” I didn't have to explain. He traced over the scars with his fingertips, the words and names that would never go away.

“What the hell.” He repeated, but this time it was more of a statement than a question. “Keith, I'm so sorry.”

“It's fine.” I said. I flashed back more, remembering more of the things they had done. I completely pulled off my shirt.

Lance stared in shock as he looked over my torso. He reached out to touch one of the long, jagged scars along my rib cage. His hands were colder than normal.

“Keith, what the Hell did they do to you?” He asked, but I knew he didn't want a full answer.

“Fire and blades do a lot to someone with little to no fighting experience.” I replied and slipped my shirt back on. I didn't allow myself to remember anything else.

Lance looked at me, still a look of horror on his face.

“Keith,” he wrapped his arms around me. “I'm not gonna let this happen again.”

I looked up at him, allowing myself to relax into his arms. “Lance, it was five years ago. I'm not gonna let it happen either.” He was more serious than I'd ever seen him before.

“Nobody hurts the people I love and gets away with it.” His voice was scarily harsh, and he apologized. “If they ever show their faces around here-” he looked at me. “I won't let them touch you.” His eyes were squinted into a glare, and as we both calmed down I watched as his glare slowly turned back into his familiar, soft features again.”

\------------

I saw a lot of things in that dream sequence; things I remembered, things I didn't, things I never knew about Lance and things that were so familiar to me that I had completely forgotten their importance. Everything Lance had experienced, I had to watch. 

There were good things, and there were bad things too, and when the sequence faded to white and my eyes opened, I realized what it all meant. The weight of the world sinking down on me crushed my soul, and on the floor of an old, abandoned building, I cried silently to myself.


	27. Chapter 27

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys, I'm not dead! I just had super bad writing block and zero motivation
> 
> But I'm back
> 
> And I'm probably going to end up crying

The world went by slower as I got up, steadying myself with the wall. My knees felt weak and my chest felt heavy, but I walked back out into the fight.

“Three o'clock!” Hunk yelled. I barely jumped out of the way as a beam of light fired out of his gun.

I went to send him a message, but he shrugged and started talking before I could ask.

“I found it on one of the figures.” He explained, and flipped around to shoot another coming up behind him. 

I grabbed my knife and activated it again. I felt stronger than I had barely seconds ago, knowing that I was now fighting for Lance, along with the others who had died. I rushed at a crowd of figures, making a clean circle around me. Two fell to their knees, and I grabbed Allura's blade as I spun around again. 

They all crumpled to the asphalt. I didn't wait for praise, and I didn't expect it either. I ran to fight more that were coming out of the alleyways, and I heard Matt cry out from behind me.

“Matt!” My voice was scratchy and strained, but I could talk again at least. I saw him on the ground, holding his arm to shield his face.

“No!” Hunk yelled and ran towards Matt. There was a split second before the both of them fell from the sheer force of an enemy weapon.

Hunk got up quickly.

Matt didn't.

“Matt?” Hunk turned towards him, shuddering when he saw the damage that he had taken.

Matt groaned and tried to sit up. Hunk helped support him as he did so.

“Holy fuck.” Matt gasped, putting an arm across his stomach. He looked like he was about to throw up.

“Matt, just relax, okay? Everything's gonna be okay.” Hunk softly comforted Matt, who was more pale than he had been.

Matt quickly turned on his side and threw up, and I turned away just in time to deflect a figure that was ambushing the group. I circled Hunk and Matt, watching for enemy soldiers, when I heard Romelle cry out.

“Goddamnit.” I thought, dashing towards her voice. I messaged Hunk, “Going to help Romelle. Stay safe.” I saw Hunk nod put the corner of my eye as I ran 

“Romelle!” I half yelled, half spoke. I heard her yell again, and I saw a group of figures in the distance. I sprinted towards them and fought my way through the group, slowly but surely reaching the middle.

Romelle was laying on the ground, using the handgun Allura had given her to shoot at the figures surrounding her. I stood with my back toward her as she got up, and fought off the soldiers coming from her blind spots.

“Keith?” Romelle shouted, but it was more like a question. “What are you doing here?” She shot more figures down, and I took one out right before it was about to shoot at us. “Shouldn’t you be helping the others?” 

I looked at her solemnly.

“We're the only ones left besides Hunk and Matt.” I replied slowly between swings. I had a knife in each hand now after pulling Allura's blade out of my weapons holder in my belt. “And I don't know how long Matt is going to last.” I finished my sentence.

Romelle's eyes were filled with surprise, grief, and so much more. They almost reminded me of Lance's eyes, how he would get worried before I went on a mission, or how he looked at me when I talked about the fight. It wasn't pity, it was a look of uncertainty, a worried glance, even anxiety could only partially explain it.

“You should go help them, I'll be fine-” she quietly cried out as one of the soldiers shot the back of her hand. I twisted and shot them, using my agility to my advantage.

“Are you sure you'll be okay?”

She looked directly into my eyes and blinked, her eyes turning from a powdery blue to a burning gold. I watched as the same gold color started to faintly glow around her figure, and she nodded. “I'll be fine. Go help the others.” 

I nodded quickly, running over to Matt and Hunk. They were in similar positions they were in earlier, except Matt had sat up, and now had a small pool of blood next to him.

“Keith!” Hunk exclaimed, his grief turning to surprise for a split second. He looked from me to Matt, who had started coughing.

He spit on the sidewalk, only adding to the puddle of bodily fluids next to him. “Hey Keith.” He said coolly, despite his current condition.

“Hey Matt.” I replied, my concern growing as I watched him spit more blood.

“Hunk, what-” I didn't even have to finish my sentence before Hunk answered me.

“We think it's internal bleeding.” He replied, and I nodded.

"And external!" Matt said strangely cheerfully, pulling up his shirt to reveal a concerning open wound.

“He suffered a really hard blow from that weapon to his chest and stomach.” I nodded again.

Matt wheezed. “We also think I have a punctured lung or something.” He said in between shallow breaths. 

I kneeled down to examine Matt. His shirt and jeans were covered in blood again, which didn't surprise any of us considering the circumstances. Along with the open gash in his abdomen, he had cuts along his arms and chest as well.

He coughed again. "Hey Hunk, if I don't make it-"

Hunk's eyes melted into sadness and love. "No, Matt, you're gonna be fine, just hang on."

Matt smiled unevenly. He was losing a lot of blood, and you could tell by the way his words were starting to slur. "Dude, you don't have to comfort me." He said, laughing weakly. "It's okay."

Hunk took a deep, shaky breath. 

Matt unholstered his weapons from his belt and handed them to us. 

"I'm not gonna need these anymore," he said slowly, still smiling. "But you guys will."

Hunk and I looked at each other. I couldn't read his face, and I was starting to realize that maybe I was just bad at understanding people's thoughts.

"How ironic for someone with telepathy." I mumbled to myself.

Hunk gave me a questioning glance. I shrugged it off.

We both turned back to Matt as he wiped blood off his chin. 

"Fuck man." He murmured, looking at the back of his hand. He seemed to just now realize the seriousness of his condition. "Wow."

Hunk's breathing hitched, and he put a hand on Matt's shoulder.

Matt looked him dead in the eyes, and then fished something out of his shirt pocket.

"It's a note I keep with me 24/7," he said, his eyes growing fond and glassy. He handed the note to Hunk. "Take good care of it, will you?" 

Hunk nodded, his eyes welling up with tears. He took the note and put it in his pocket.

"Good luck you guys." Matt encouraged.

Hunk started crying.

Matt looked at him with a sad and groggy expression. "Owe, don't be like that." He said slowly, trying to wipe the tears away from Hunk's face. "It's gonna be okay man."

Hunk nodded, and took Matt's hand. They looked at each other for a few seconds, and then Hunk put his head down to hide his feelings. 

Matt kissed the back of Hunk's hand.

"It's gonna be okay." He reassured. Hunk nodded again, his overwhelming sadness racking his shoulders. Matt leaned in and hugged him. Hunk responded by hugging him back.

"Sorry," Matt laughed softly. "I'm kind of a mess." 

Hunk laughed through his tears, and they let go.

"I'll see you later, don't worry." Matt said. At this point, he had lost enough blood that what didn't soak into his clothing had formed a puddle around him.

Hunk didn't seem to be ble to speak, but Matt somehow was.

"I'll see you later." Matt practically whispered the phrase again.

Hunk looked him in the eyes. "See you later." He said softly.

Matt smiled, and then his eyes went out of focus and turned glassy.

Hunk laid him down gently on the ground and closed his eyes, tears still falling from his despaired eyes and running thickly down his tired and worn-out face.

I stood up. "We have to keep going," I told him, putting a hand on his back.

He nodded, letting go of Matt's hand. He looked back one last time before standing up. 

Hunk looked at me as we prepared to keep going. 

"We have to take out those guys, whoever they are." He said, his voice shaky and determined. I watched him as he looked back to wherever his eyes had been pointing before he said anything. His appearance was strange, with his angry, yet sorrow-filled eyes, that seemed to pierce something that wasn't there. It scared me to see him this emotionally torn, but I could understand.

"I'm going to find all of them." He said, his demeanor turning haunted. "Every last one." He turned to give me one last glance, and before I could say anything he had taken off into the ashen shadows.

After he had left, I heard Romelle yelling something, so I ran towards her voice.

"Every single one of you has no remorse!" She yelled powerfully. Her voice carried out, and seemed to bounce off of every visible surface around her. The figures stopped in their tracks.

The glowing light I had seen before that had been cast around her was now more vibrant than I'd seen it before, and she was floating at least five feet off the ground. Her hands were held out, palms up, and there seemed to be light pouring out of them. Her hair was flowing as if she was underwater.

Romelle's expression turned from anger and regret to pure fury. Her palms, and the light around her, glowed brighter still as flames now shot from her hands.

“You will pay for everything you have done.” Her eyes turned a fiercer yellow, and the area around her began to glow so bright that it was difficult to see anything near her.

“For Bandor. For Allura. For everyone whose blood is on your hands." She said, her voice echoing throughout the charred alleyways. "Burn in Hell." She snarled, and suddenly everything flashed white.

I was knocked back by the sudden blast that occurred after she said that last phrase. I couldn't tell what was up or down for a minute, but after my vision focussed I realized that the scenario had changed completely.

Every last figure that had surrounded Romelle was now nothing more than piles of charred ash. The entire area had been blackened, and the windows in the surrounding buildings had been cracked, if not completely broken.

I sat up, looking frantically for Romelle. She was nowhere to be seen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy there's probably mistakes but I'm too lazy and tired to fix them please just ignore them thank you so much


	28. Chapter 28

I stood completely up and looked around frantically.

"Romelle!?" I yelled frantically, running from alleyway to alleyway to try and find her. It was no use.

"What the fuck?" I yelled, frustrated, and kicked one of the weapons that hadn't been pulverized in the blast. I wasn't even sure how I was still alive after what had happened, but I decided not to question it.

I ran down a few side streets and scrambled up the nearest fire escape I could to scout the area. Realizing that Romelle might respond over the comms, I turned my bracelet back on.

I was hit with a wave of static, and then the sound of an alarm system.

"The base has been destroyed, do not attempt to engage contact." A pre-recorded voice said over the comms. I didn't recognize the person who said it, but as the alarm sounded again I quickly shut off my bracelet.

I swore under my breath at the situation. Now that Hunk and Romelle had dissapeared, I was completely alone. I didn't see a point in fighting anymore, but my hero complex told me I had to.

I let my vision go out of focus, and startled myself when the buildings around me disappeared. I saw three figures in the distance, and as I shook my head I remembered what Allura had told me earlier.

"X-ray vision." I heard her voice in my head almost as if we were back in the apartment above Altea again. "I've never met a cadet who could see through objects." 

I focussed my attention on seeing the figures again, and the buildings went back to being transparent.

I couldn't recognize them from where I was; they were at least three blocks away, but I scouted and kept my attention on them anyway.

Without warning, one of the three branched off and started heading my direction. I payed close attention to them.

They criss-crossed through the buildings and down side streets I didn't know existed, and as they got closer I realized they were now only two blocks away.

I sped down the fire escape ladder and ran towards Altea, which was in the opposite direction as the figure that was approaching me. I knew the building probably wasn't standing anymore, but I could at least find another building that could provide shelter.

I rounded the corner, and suddenly heard a familiar voice from behind me.

"Keith…" the figure sang my name in a sickening way, as if I were a pet. "Where're you going? You aren't running away now, are you?" 

I flipped around to face the figure.

And was met by Adam's face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shit's about to get real


	29. Chapter 29

"Adam?" I felt the air completely leave my lungs.

"Hey Keith." He sneered, a menacing smile creeping its way across his face. "It's been awhile, hasn't it?"

I backed up, putting my hand on my still sheathed blade. I didn't know what kind of weapon he had, but after knowing the stats of fellow cadets, officer's, and even the mentors, for as long as I had, I knew for a fact that he could easily have the upper hand against me in a one-on-one.

"Are you still fighting as well as you used to?"

I felt a wall press against my back and knew I was fucked.

He unclipped a blade almost identical to mine from the inside of his jacket and gazed at it admirably.

"You know, I've never had to fight a cadet before," His eyes lit up with a sort of hunger that I'd never seen before in my life. "I guess there's a first time for everything." 

He lunged at me and I dodged, grabbing my blade as well.

We fought intensely for a long time, and while I was barely making a dent in his skill and expertise, he was chipping away at me like I was nothing.

"I thought you were stronger than this!" He laughed, easily avoiding my attacks.

I attempted to dodge his slashes towards me, but to no avail. I fell to the ground, and hard.

He walked towards me and I quickly got up, ignoring the fact that there were burning sensations in my muscles and on my arms and torso. I could feel myself getting slower as the wounds I was sustaining took their toll. 

I backed up again towards the wall I had been pinned against at the beginning of the fight, starting to shout memories at Adam as I retreated. In the fight I realized that he'd been brainwashed, and as I yelled nonsense towards him, I could only hope that something would snap him back.

Adam looked into my eyes as I found the wall and slid myself down it. His knife was still drawn. I was losing blood quickly, I the burning pain of knife wounds all over my body was getting worse by the second. My eyes felt heavy, and my brain felt foggy.

More memories started flashing through my head faster than they had before, and I winced as they flew by. one memory after another, the day of the fight made itself remembered.

"Adam, the coffee shop." I murmured, just loud enough to hear him. "I was at the coffee shop when you found me, remember?"

his eyes widened. I wasn't sure if he remembered or not. I felt my body shutting down, but I forced myself to stay awake.

"Shiro- Shiro brought me to Altea after the fight." a chill ran over my body as more memories brought their way forth. "You came to pick me up. You- you helped." 

my words started slurring, and Adam came closer to me, putting his knife down.

"You made it so the burns wouldn't scar over as badly.”

"Y-you helped heal me, and my- my memory, and now you've sided with them." the words spilling from my lips were barely comprehensible from the light-headed stuttering, but from the way Adam's eyes focussed, I knew he'd heard me. 

the last thing I saw before completely collapsing was Adam putting his blade away and reaching towards me with open palms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was meant to be similar to the Kuron vs Keith fight in s6, I'm not sure if I succeeded or not :/


	30. Chapter 30

Fuck.

I was supposed to be a kid, wasn't I?

I was supposed to live my life like a normal person, not like some makeshift soldier in a war I didn't fucking ask for.

God, and the people fighting alongside me, they didn't deserve it either.

It came so suddenly, the days we were fighting; how long even was it? three, four days? it felt like months, years of nothing but death and fighting.

I kept one saying in my head the entire time, to help myself so I could have the vigor to keep fighting.

'I'll be here until the world ends'

Well it's over. it's the end of the world, but I'm still here, aren't I?

I saw Pidge, who had an entire lifetime and more ahead of them,  
now gone, with whatever lies ahead of all of us to deal with.

I saw Shiro, the one person who cared about me when nobody else was there.  
And he left too, his last moments the most disoriented and the most sad.

I saw Allura, who never realized that she couldn't fight until her last breath.  
She passed over with her sword still slicing through an enemy target.

I saw Matt, who fought for many, including himself.   
He was a man who died twice, and a man who defended many with his life. 

I saw Hunk, who disappeared after Matt died.   
The last moments I saw him were filled with tears, regret, and a seeking of revenge.

I saw Romelle, who wiped out an entire flock of armed people with a single will.  
She had power, and she used it to only help the ones she loved.

I saw Lance.  
I saw the man I loved, defenseless in the jaws of defeat, as I sat helpless in a pool of despair.  
He died with hope in his eyes. He died wishing for me to end this war, even if no one else could.

And now, I was here. 

But, where was here, exactly?

Dead, alive, I didn't know. 

All I know is that now, I'm here.

Wherever the fuck that is.


End file.
